THE  RIVERSIDE  HISTORY 

OF  THE 

UNITED   STATES 


WILLIAM   E.    DODD,    EDITOR 


THE  RIVERSIDE  HISTORY 
OF   THE  UNITED   STATES 

WILLIAM  E.  DODD,  EDITOR 


I.  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  PEO 
PLE.  By  CARL  LOTUS  BECKER,  Professor  of  European 
History,  University  of  Kansas. 

II  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY.  By  ALIEN  JOHN 
SON,  Professor  of  American  History,  Yale  University. 

III.  EXPANSION  AND  CONFLICT.  By  WILLIAM 
E.  DODD,  Professor  of  American  History,  University  of 
Chicago. 

IV.  THE  NEW  NATION.    By  FREDERIC  L.  PAXSON, 
Professor  of  History,  University  of  Wisconsin. 


HOUGHTON    MIFFLIN   COMPANY 
BOSTON          NEW   YORK          CHICAGO 


.UNION  AND 
DEMOCRACY. 


BY 

ALLEN  JOHNSON    TV) 

PROFESSOR   CF  AMERICAN  HISTORY 
YALE   UNIVERSITY 


HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

BOSTON  NEW    YORK          CHICAGO 

pre?0 


COPYRIGHT,   1915,    BY   ALLEN  JOHNSON 
ALL  RIGHTS   RESERVED 


PREFACE 

THE  title  of  this  volume  must  be  regarded  as  sug 
gestive  rather  than  as  strictly  accurate,  for  the  be 
ginnings  of  union  are  to  be  found  farther  back  than 
1783,  and  democracy  in  its  largest  sense  has  even  yet 
been  only  imperfectly  realized.  At  the  close  of  the 
Revolution,  union  was  but  a  name.  What  Metternich 
said  of  the  Italy  of  his  day  might  have  been  said  of 
the  United  States  in  1783  :  it  was  only  a  geographi 
cal  expression.  The  formation  of  the  new  federal 
union  under  the  Constitution  is  properly  the  main, 
though  not  the  sole,  theme  of  this  volume.  Behind 
the  thirteen  Atlantic  communities  lay  a  vast  region 
which  almost  at  once  invited  the  colonizing  activities 
of  the  people.  The  rise  of  this  western  world  is  a 
movement  of  immense  significance.  Out  of  the  bosom 
of  the  West  emerged  the  new  democracy  which  trans 
formed  the  face  of  society  in  the  old  States.  Whether 
viewed  economically  or  politically,  this  forms  the  sec 
ond  theme  in  any  history  of  the  times.  Around  these 
two  movements,  therefore,  I  have  endeavored  to 
group  the  events  of  forty-five  years. 

Within  the  last  few  years  special  studies  have 
added  much  to  the  common  stock  of  historical  infor 
mation,  and  in  many  ways  effected  changes  in  the 
historian's  point  of  view.  The  time  seemed  proper 
to  restate  the  salient  factors  in  the  history  of  this 
formative  period.  I  have  frankly  appropriated  the 


440258 


vi  PREFACE 

labors  of  others.  Had  the  plan  of  the  series  per 
mitted  the  use  of  footnotes,  I  would  gladly  have 
made  particular  acknowledgment  of  my  indebted 
ness.  At  the  same  time  I  have  not  hesitated  to  pre 
sent  the  results  of  my  own  studies  wrhere  they  have 
led  away  from  the  conventional  view  of  men  and 
events. 

In  preparation  of  the  maps  showing  the  popular 
vote  in  the  elections  of  1800  and  1824, 1  have  drawn 
largely  upon  the  data  which  Dr.  Charles  O.  Paullin, 
of  the  Carnegie  Institution,  has  generously  put  at 
my  disposal.  In  States  where  the  presidential  elec 
tors  were  not  chosen  directly  by  the  voters,  other 
votes,  such  as  those  for  governor,  have  been  made 
the  basis  for  determining  the  popular  choice  among 
party  candidates  for  the  presidency.  Two  of  my 
graduate  students,  Miss  Isabel  S.  Mitchell  and  Mr. 
Joseph  E.  Howe,  have  given  me  valuable  assistance 
in  the  execution  of  the  maps.  I  am  under  particu 
lar  obligation  to  my  colleague,  Professor  Stewart  L. 
Mims,  for  reading  critically  both  manuscript  and 
proof. 

ALLEN  JOHNSON. 


CONTENTS 

I.  THE  ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION  .      ,  1 

II.  THE  MAKING  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION     .       .  25 

III.  THE  RESTORATION  OF  PUBLIC  CREDIT  .      .  46 

IV.  THE  TESTING  OF  THE  NEW  GOVERNMENT  .  68 
V.  ANGLOMEN  AND  JACOBINS    .....  89 

VI.  THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1800 105 

VII.  JEFFERSONIAN  REFORMS 123 

VIII.  THE     PURCHASE     OF  THE     PROVINCE     OF 

LOUISIANA 143 

IX.  FACTION  AND  CONSPIRACY 161 

X.  PEACEABLE  COERCION 179 

XI.  THE  APPROACH  OF  WAR 197 

XII.  THE  WAR  OF  1812 212 

XIII.  THE  RESULTS  OF  THE  WAR      ....  231 

XIV.  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT      ....  245 
XV.  HARD  TIMES —.      .      .  266 

XVI.  THE  NATIONAL  AWAKENING      .      .      .      .282 

XVII.  THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY 298 

XVIII.  POLITICS  AND  STATE  RIGHTS     .      .      .      .318 

XIX.  THE  RISE  OF  NATIONAL  SOVEREIGNTY  .       .  331 

INDEX   .  i 


MAPS  AND  CHARTS 

THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  1783    ....    jadng      1 
STATE-MAKING  IN  THE  WEST,   1783-87  ....      9 
DISTRIBUTION  OF  VOTES  IN  RATIFICATION  OF  THE 
CONSTITUTION: 

The  New  England  States 37 

The  Middle  States 39 

The  Southern  States 42 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  POPULATION,  1790      ....    49 

VOTE  ON  ASSUMPTION 59 

THE  NORTHWEST,  1785-95 71 

VOTE  ON  THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  ALIEN  AND  SEDITION 

ACTS,  FEBRUARY  25,  1799  .  .  between  112  and  113 
PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1800  .  between  116  and  117 
DISTRIBUTION  OF  POPULATION,  1800  ....  125 
VOTE  ON  THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  JUDICIARY  ACT, 

MARCH  2,  1802 between  134  and  135 

THE  YAZOO-GEORGIA  LAND  CONTROVERSY  .  .  .168 
THE  TONNAGE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  1807  .  .  185 
VOTE  ON  THE  EMBARGO,  DECEMBER  21,  1807 

between  190  and  191 
VOTE  ON  THE  DECLARATION  OF  WAR,  JUNE  4,  1812 

between  208  and  209 


The  United  States 
in  1783 


Disputed  Areas 
HI  Claimed  by  New  York 
Forts  held  by  the  British 


iwnwlch          77 


UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

CHAPTER   I 

THE  ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION 

IT  was  characteristic  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  that  once  assured  of  their  political  independ 
ence  they  should  face  their  economic  future  with 
buoyant  expectations.  As  colonizers  of  a  new  world 
they  were  confident  in  their  own  strength.  When 
once  the  shackles  of  the  British  mercantile  system 
were  shaken  off,  they  did  not  doubt  their  ability  to 
compete  for  the  markets  of  the  world.  Even  Wash 
ington,  who  had  fewer  illusions  than  most  of  his 
contemporaries,  told  his  fellow  citizens  of  America 
that  they  were  "  placed  in  the  most  enviable  condi 
tion,  as  sole  lords  and  proprietors  of  a  vast  tract  of 
continent,  comprehending  all  the  various  soils  and 
climates  of  the  world,  and  abounding  with  all  the 
necessaries  and  conveniences  of  life."  Independence 
was  the  magic  word  which  the  common  man  believed 
would  open  wide  the  gates  of  prosperity.  Yet  within 
a  year  after  the  ratification  of  the  Peace  of  Paris, 
American  society  was  in  the  throes  of  a  severe  in 
dustrial  depression. 

Contrary  to  the  accepted  view,  the  latter  years  of 
the  war  were  not  years  of  penury  and  want  among 
the  people.  Outside  of  those  regions  of  Virginia  and 


1 J  i : ;  x .  it  JttOK  .AND  DEMOCRACY 

the  Carolinas,  which  were  devastated  by  the  march 
ing  and  countermarching  of  the  combatants,  the 
people  were  living  in  comparative  comfort.  North  of 
the  Potomac,  indeed,  there  was  even  a  tendency  to 
speculation  in  business  and  extravagance  in  living. 
Throughout  the  war  farmers  had  found  a  ready  mar 
ket  for  their  produce  within  the  lines  of  the  British 
and  French  armies.  The  temporary  suspension  of 
commerce  had  encouraged  many  forms  of  productive 
industry.  As  the  war  continued,  venturesome  skip 
pers  eluded  British  men-of-war  and  found  their  way 
to  European  or  Dutch  West  India  ports,  bringing 
home  rich  cargoes  in  exchange  for  tobacco,  flour,  and 
rice.  The  prizes  brought  in  by  privateers  added 
largely  to  the  stock  of  desirable  and  attractive  mer 
chandise  in  the  shops  of  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and 
Charleston.  If  such  prosperity  could  follow  in  the 
wake  of  war,  what  commercial  gains  might  not  be 
expected  in  the  piping  times  of  peace  ?  In  anticipa 
tion  of  immediate  returns,  merchants  drew  heavily 
upon  their  foreign  creditors  and  stocked  their  shops 
with  imported  commodities.  Southern  planters  in 
dulged  similar  expectations  and  bought  land  and 
slaves  on  credit,  regardless  of  the  price.  "  A  rage  for 
running  in  debt  became  epidemical,"  wrote  a  con 
temporary  observer.  "  Individuals  were  for  getting 
rich  by  a  coup  de  main  ;  a  good  bargain  —  a  happy 
speculation  —  was  almost  every  man's  object  and 
pursuit." 

During  the  hard  times  of  1785-86  these  golden 
dreams  vanished.  Instead  of  sharing  as  the  people 
of  an  independent  nation  in  the  trade  and  commerce 


ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION     3 

of  the  world,  American  shippers  found  themselves  no 
better  off  than  they  were  as  dependents  of  Great 
Britain.  Orders  in  council  at  once  closed  the  ports 
of  the  British  West  Indies  to  all  staple  products 
which  were  not  carried  in  British  bottoms.  Certain 
commodities,  —  fish,  pork,  and  beef,  —  which  might 
compete  with  the  products  of  British  dependencies, 
were  excluded  altogether.  The  policy  of  France  and 
Spain  was  scarcely  less  illiberal.  The  effect  was  im 
mediate.  Cut  off  from  their  natural  markets,  Amer 
ican  shipowners  were  forced  either  to  leave  their  ves 
sels  to  rot  at  their  wharves  or  to  seek  new  markets. 
For  months  there  seemed  to  be  no  other  alternative. 
At  the  same  time  the  new  industries  which  had 
sprung  up  during  the  war  had  to  meet  the  shock  of 
foreign  competition,  as  the  -British  manufacturer 
damped  on  American  wharves  the  accumulated  stock 
Oi  his  warehouses.  The  plight  of  the  small  farmer 
and  of  the  large  planter  was  much  the  same ;  for 
both  had  incurred  debts  in  expectation  of  continued 
prosperity. 

Everywhere  people  complained  of  hard  times. 
Discouragement  and  ill-humor  displaced  the  buoyant 
optimism  with  which  peace  had  been  heralded. 
"  What  is  independence  ? "  asked  a  writer  in  A 
Shorter  Catechism.  "  Dependence  upon  nothing  " 
was  the  cynical  answer.  In  many  States  the  popular 
discontent  found  vent  in  a  vindictive  crusade  against 
the  Tories.  Even  sober-minded  citizens  shared  the 
general  detestation  of  these  unfortunate  people.  In 
the  heat  of  war  Washington  had  declared  them  to 
be  "  abominable  pests  of  society  "  who  ought  to  be 


4  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

hanged  as  traitors.  The  States  had  quite  generally 
confiscated  their  property  and  in  some  cases  had 
passed  acts  of  attainder  against  them.  In  communi 
ties  like  New  York,  which  had  long  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  British,  the  popular  animosity  was  ex 
ceedingly  bitter.  To  aid  those  citizens  who  had  been 
dispossessed  of  their  estates,  the  legislature  passed 
the  Trespass  Act,  which  permitted  suits  for  the  re 
covery  of  property  that  had  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy  upon  the  flight  of  the  owners.  The 
terms  of  the  act  were  in  flat  contradiction  to  the 
treaty  of  peace.  Further  to  aid  claimants,  it  was  pro 
vided  that  no  military  order  could  be  pleaded  in 
court  in  justification  of  the  seizure  of  property. 

In  a  famous  case  brought  before  the  Mayor's 
Court  of  New  York  by  the  widow  Rutgers  to  re 
cover  her  property  from  Joshua  Waddington,  a 
wealthy  Tory,  Alexander  Hamilton  appeared  as  coun 
sel  for  the  defendant.  It  was  a  daring  act  which 
brought  down  upon  him  the  unmitigated  wrath  of 
the  radical  elements.  Nevertheless,  in  an  opinion 
which  has  considerable  interest  for  students  of  con 
stitutional  law,  the  court  ruled  that  the  Trespass 
Act,  "  by  a  reasonable  interpretation,"  must  be  con 
strued  in  harmony  with  the  treaty  of  peace,  which 
was  obligatory  upon  every  State.  It  was  not  to  be 
presumed  that  the  legislature  would  intentionally  vio 
late  the  law  of  nations.  The  judgment  of  the  court, 
therefore,  was  in  favor  of  the  defendant.  With  cha 
grin  and  resentment  the  popular  party  declared  that 
the  court  had  set  aside  a  law  of  the  State  and  had 
presumed  to  set  itself  above  the  legislature.  Wher- 


ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION     5 

ever  the  radicals  got  the  upper  hand,  confiscation  was 
the  order  of  the  day ;  and  even  where  the  conserva 
tives  succeeded  in  restraining  their  radical  brethren 
from  legislative  reprisals,  no  Tory  was  safe  from  the 
assaults  of  irresponsible  mobs.  Thousands  took  ref 
uge  in  flight,  to  the  infinite  delight  of  the  wits  in  the 
coffee-houses  who  jested  of  the  "  Independence  Fe 
ver  "  which  was  carrying  off  so  many  worthy  people. 
Financially  the  Confederation  was  hopelessly  em 
barrassed.  Having  sowed  the  wind  by  its  issues  of 
bills  of  credit,  it  was  now  reaping  the  whirlwind. 
By  the  end  of  the  war  this  paper  money  had  so  far 
depreciated  that  it  ceased  to  pass  as  currency,  "  Not 
worth  a  continental"  has  passed  into  our  native 
idiom.  Without  power  to  levy  taxes,  Congress  could 
only  make  requisitions  upon  the  States.  The  returns 
were  pitifully  inadequate  to  the  needs  of  government. 
All  told,  less  than  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars 
came  into  the  treasury  between  1781  and  1784,  al 
though  Morris,  as  Superintendent  of  Finance,  had 
earnestly  besought  the  governors  of  the  States  for 
two  millions  for  the  year  1783  alone,  in  order  to  meet 
outstanding  obligations  and  current  expenses.  With 
out  foreign  and  domestic  loans  the  war  could  never 
have  been  carried  to  a  successful  conclusion ;  but  in 
1783  even  that  source  was  drained.  In  sheer  desper 
ation  Congress  authorized  the  Superintendent  of  Fi 
nance  to  draw  bills  of  exchange,  at  his  discretion, 
upon  the  credit  of  loans  which  were  to  be  procured 
in  Europe.  In  vain  Morris  warned  Congress  that  no 
more  loans  could  be  secured.  "  Our  public  credit  is 
gone,"  he  declared. 


6  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

The  obvious  remedy  for  the  financial  ills  of  the 
Confederation  was  to  give  Congress  the  power  to 
levy  taxes.  Early  in  1781,  indeed,  before  the  Arti 
cles  of  Confederation  had  been  ratified  by  Maryland, 
the  proposal  had  been  made  that  Congress  should  be 
vested  with  power  to  levy  a  five  per  cent  duty  on 
imports ;  but  the  obstinate  opposition  of  Rhode  Is 
land  effectually  blocked  the  amendment.  "  She  con 
sidered  it  the  most  precious  jewel  of  sovereignty  that 
no  State  be  called  upon  to  open  its  purse  but  by  the 
authority  of  the  State  and  by  her  own  officers." 
Again,  in  1783,  Congress  submitted  tc  the  States 
an  amendment  which  would  confer  upon  it  the  power 
to  place  specific  duties  for  a  term  of  twenty-five 
years  upon  certain  classes  of  imported  commodities. 
The  tardy  response  of  the  States  to  this  proposal 
left  little  hope  that  it  would  be  adopted. 

In  fact,  the  Confederation  and  its  woes  hardly 
occupied  the  thoughts  of  the  people  at  all,  except  as 
a  subject  for  jest  and  ridicule.  .The  newspapers 
made  merry  over  the  peregrinations  of  Congress. 
Frightened  away  from  Philadelphia  by  the  riotous 
conduct  of  some  troops  of  the  Pennsylvania  line, 
who  had  imbibed  too  freely,  the  delegates  had  with 
drawn  first  to  Princeton  and  then  to  Annapolis. 
Thither  Washington  repaired  to  resign  his  commis 
sion  ;  but  even  so  notable  an  occasion  as  this  brought 
together  delegates  from  only  seven  of  the  States.  The 
best  talent  in  America  was  drafted  into  the  service 
of  the  several  States.  Men  had  ceased  to  think  con- 
tinentally.  "  A  selfish  habitude  of  thinking  and  rea 
soning,"  wrote  one  who  styled  himself  Yorick,  in  the 


ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION     7 

New  York  Packet,  "  leads  us  into  a  fatal  error  the 
moment  we  begin  to  talk  of  the  interests  of  Amer 
ica.  The  fact  is,  by  the  interests  of  America  we  mean 
only  the  interests  of  that  State  to  which  property 
or  accident  has  attached  us."  "  Of  the  affairs  of 
Georgia,"  Madison  confessed  in  1786,  "  I  know  as 
little  as  those  of  Kamskatska." 

On  all  sides  intelligent  men  agreed  that  the  re 
turn  of  prosperity  depended  upon  the  opening-up  of 
foreign  trade.  Their  immediate  concern  was  the  re 
covery  of  old  markets.  When  John  Adams  went 
to  London  in  1785  as  the  first  representative  of  the 
United  States,  he  bent  all  his  energies  to  the  task 
of  securing  a  commercial  treaty  which  would  provide 
for  unrestricted  intercourse  between  the  countries. 
It  was  an  impossible  task.  At  every  turn  he  encoun 
tered  the  hostility  of  the  mercantile  classes,  of  whom 
Lord  Sheffield  was  the  most  conspicuous  representa 
tive.  "  What  have  you  to  give  us  in  exchange  for 
this  and  that?"  "  What  have  you  to  give  us  as  reci 
procity  for  the  benefit  of  going  to  our  islands  ?  " 
"  What  assurance  can  you  give  that  the  States  will 
agree  to  a  treaty  ? "  These  were  the  embarrassing 
questions  which  Adams  had  to  encounter.  Baffled  by 
the  cool  indifference  of  the  English  Ministry,  Adams 
wrote  home  in  despair  that  there  was  not  the  slight 
est  prospect  of  relief  for  American  commerce  unless 
the  States  would  confer  the  power  of  passing  navi 
gation  laws  upon  Congress  or  themselves  pass  retali 
atory  acts  against  Great  Britain. 

Congress  had,  indeed,  already  urged  upon  the 
States  the  necessity  of  yielding  the  power  to  enact 


8  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

navigation  laws  ;  but  they  had  replied  with  such  de 
liberation  and  witli  so  many  conditions  that  Congress 
was  as  powerless  as  ever.  Meantime,  each  State 
struck  blindly  at  the  common  enemy  with  little  or 
no  regard  for  its  neighbors.  "  The  States  are  every 
day  giving  proofs,"  wrote  Madison,  "  that  separate 
regulations  are  more  likely  to  set  them  by  the  ears 
than  to  attain  the  common  object."  When  the  other 
New  England  States  closed  their  ports  to  British 
shipping,  Connecticut  hastened  to  profit  at  their  ex 
pense  by  throwing  her  ports  wide  open.  New  Jersey, 
with  New  York  on  one  side  and  Pennsylvania  on 
the  other,  was  likened  to  a  cask  tapped  at  both  ends. 
To  find  a  historical  parallel  to  the  annals  of  this 
period,  one  must  go  back  to  the  bickerings  and  jeal 
ousies  of  the  states  of  ancient  Greece. 

In  this  dark  picture,  however,  there  are  cheering 
rays  of  light.  One  by  one  the  States  were  redeem 
ing  their  promises  and  ceding  their  western  lands. 
It  seemed  as  though  the  Confederation,  hitherto  a 
disembodied  spirit,  was  about  to  tenant  a  body.  By 
the  year  1786  the  United  States  were  in  joint  pos 
session  of  the  greater  part  of  the  vast  region  be 
tween  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Great 
Lakes  —  a  domain  of  imperial  dimensions.  In  anti 
cipation  of  these  cessions,  Congress  took  under  con 
sideration  an  ordinance  reported  by  a  committee  of 
which  Thomas  Jefferson  was  chairman.  This  ordi 
nance  contemplated  the  division  of  the  land  north 
of  the  thirty-first  parallel  into  fourteen  or  sixteen 
States.  The  settlers  in  these  rectangular  areas  were 
not  to  form  state  governments  at  once,  but  for  their 


ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION     9 

temporary  government  were  to  borrow  such  consti 
tutions  as  they  thought  best  from  the  older  States. 
When  a  State  had  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  it 
might  frame  a  permanent  constitution  and  send  a 
delegate  to  Congress.  Admission  to  the  Union  was 
to  be  granted  only 
when  a  State  had 
as  many  free  in 
habitants  as  "  the 
least  numerous  of 
the  thirteen  origi 
nal  States."  Two 
features  of  Jeffer 
son's  report  do  not 
appear  in  the  Or 
dinance  of  1784 ; 
the  fantastic  names 
which  Jefferson 
had  selected  and 
the  fifth  of  the 
fundamental  con 
ditions  which  were 
to  be  a  charter  of 
compact  between  the  old  States  and  the  new.  It  is 
perhaps  no  misfortune  that  the  names  Assenisipia, 
Polypotamia,  Pelisipia,  do  not  appear  on  the  map ; 
the  article  prohibiting  slavery  after  the  year  1800 
might  well  have  been  retained. 

More  important  than  the  Ordinance  of  1784, 
which  indeed  is  interesting  chiefly  because  it  was  the 
forerunner  of  the  final  ordinance  for  the  Northwest 
Territory,  is  that  adopted  by  Congress  in  the  follow- 


10  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

ing  year.  The  so-called  Land  Ordinance  of  1785  pro. 
vided  in  general  for  the  survey  of  a  series  of  town 
ships  six  miles  square  in  the  region  immediately 
west  of  Pennsylvania,  and  for  the  further  division 
of  each  township  into  thirty-six  lots,  or,  as  they  were 
later  styled,  "  sections,"  one  mile  square.  After  sat 
isfying  the  claims  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Continental 
Army,  Congress  proposed  to  distribute  these  lands 
among  the  States,  to  be  sold  at  auction  for  a  mini 
mum  price  of  one  dollar  an  acre,  reserving  certain 
sections  in  each  township  and  one  third  of  the  min 
eral  ore  which  might  be  found.  The  sixteenth  sec 
tion  in  each  township  was  to  be  set  aside  for  the  sup 
port  of  education.  Each  purchaser  was  to  receive 
with  his  deed  a  definite  description  of  his  holding. 
Subsequent  amendments  to  the  Land  Ordinance 
made  the  terms  of  purchase  somewhat  easier.  In 
stead  of  making  an  out-and-out  purchase,  prospective 
settlers  might  pay  one  third  in  cash  and  receive  a 
credit  of  three  mouths  for  the  balance  of  the  purchase 
price.  Yet  even  with  these  inducements  only  seventy- 
three  thousand  acres  had  been  sold  to  individuals 
down  to  1788,  The  hazards  of  western  settlement 
were  still  too  great. 

Disappointed  in  the  sales  under  the  Land  Or 
dinance,  Congress  was  persuaded  to  consider  the 
alternative  course  of  selling  large  tracts  to  compa 
nies.  The  collapse  of  national  credit  left  the  public 
domain  almost  the  only  available  source  of  revenue. 
Early  in  1787  the  Ohio  Company  offered  to  pur 
chase  a  tract  of  land  between  the  Ohio  and  Muskin- 
guni  Rivers.  The  promoters  of  this  company  had 


ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION    11 

been  interested  in  an  earlier  project  of  army  officers 
for  the  founding  of  a  military  colony  beyond  the 
Ohio.  Organized  at  Boston  in  March,  1786,  with  a 
nominal  capital  of  one  million  dollars,  it  had  within 
a  year  raised  one  fourth  of  that  amount  and  sent  first 
General  Samuel  Parsons  and  then  the  Reverend 
Manasseh  Cutler  to  secure  the  desired  grant  from 
Congress.  The  labors  of  this  astute  divine  at  the 
seat  of  government  form  an  interesting  chapter  in  the 
evolution  of  American  legislative  methods.  By  de 
vices  well  known  to  the  modern  lobbyist  he  not  only 
secured  the  grant  of  land,  but  also  took  a  hand  in 
the  shaping  of  a  new  ordinance  for  the  Northwest 
Territory.  In  order  to  secure  the  grant  to  his  asso 
ciates,  he  had  to  resort  to  log-rolling  and  agree  to 
procure  for  a  group  of  land  speculators  an  option  to 
lands  on  the  Scioto  River.  The  grant  to  the  Ohio 
Company  contained  a  million  and  a  half  acres ;  that 
to  the  Scioto  Company,  five  million  acres.  But  while 
the  one  paid  down  half  a  million  dollars,  the  other 
made  no  payment,  expecting  to  dispose  of  their 
"  rights  "  before  the  first  payment  was  due.  In  the 
following  year  a  third  grant  of  a  million  acres  on  the 
Great  and  Little  Miami  Rivers  in  Ohio  was  made  to 
John  Cleve  Synimes. 

From  these  sales  Congress  expected  to  realize  over 
three  and  a  half  million  dollars  in  public  securities 
and  at  the  same  time  to  satisfy  military  bounty  war 
rants  amounting  to  about  eight  hundred  thousand 
acres.  The  actual  amount  realized  was  less  than  six 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  Scioto  Company  suc 
ceeded  in  disposing  of  rights  to  about  three  million 


12  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

acres  to  a  company  organized  in  France,  which  in 
turn  sold  them  to  unsuspecting  royalist  emigrants. 
Neither  company  ever  secured  a  clear  title  to  these 
lands,  and  Congress  had  eventually  to  come  to  the 
relief  of  the  unhappy  French  settlers  with  a  dona 
tion  of  twenty-four  thousand  acres.  Unforeseen  cir 
cumstances  prevented  either  the  Ohio  Company  or 
Symmes  from  complying  with  the  conditions  of  sale  ; 
and  in  both  cases  Congress  consented  to  alter  the 
terms  of  contract. 

On  July  13,  1787,  Congress  adopted  the  ordi- 
dance  which  it  had  long  had  under  consideration. 
The  authorship  of  this  "  charter  of  the  west,"  after 
long  controversy,  is  still  in  dispute.  Like  all  legis 
lative  measures  it  bears  the  mark  of  many  hands. 
Certain  features  of  Jefferson's  ordinance  reappear : 
the  provision  for  temporary  government  and  eventual 
statehood,  and  the  fundamental  articles  of  compact. 
Other  provisions  are  stated  in  a  detailed  fashion  and 
suggest  the  probability  that  Congress  had  definite 
conditions  to  meet.  The  ordinance  took  final  form 
while  the  Reverend  Manasseh  Cutler  was  represent 
ing  the  Ohio  Company  in  New  York.  Perhaps  the 
most  striking  departure  from  the  Ordinance  of  1784 
is  the  provision  for  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than 
five  States  north  of  the  Ohio,  where  Jefferson  planned 
for  ten.  Admission  to  the  Union  was  to  be  gained 
only  after  the  population  had  reached  sixty  thousand. 
Temporary  government  was  to  consist  of  a  governor, 
a  secretary,  and  three  judges  appointed  by  Congress, 
who  were  to  adopt  such  laws  from  other  States  as 
they  believed  suited  to  local  conditions.  In  each  and 


ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION    13 

every  case  Congress  reserved  the  right  to  disallow 
these  laws.  Whenever  a  territory  attained  a  popula 
tion  of  five  thousand,  it  was  to  pass  to  the  second 
grade  of  government,  with  a  representative  assembly, 
an  appointive  council,  and  a  delegate  in  Congress. 

Six  articles  of  compact  were  also  written  into  the 
ordinance,  which  were  to  remain  forever  unalterable 
except  by  the  common  consent  of  the  parties  thereto 
—  "  the  original  States  and  the  people  and  States  in 
the  said  territory."  Freedom  of  worship,  the  usual 
rights  of  person  and  property,  and  the  obligation  of 
private  contracts  were  guaranteed.  Religion,  moral 
ity,  and  education  were  to  be  forever  encouraged. 
Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  was  to  be 
permitted.  In  imposing  these  conditions  Congress 
undoubtedly  exceeded  its  powers  under  the  Articles 
of  Confederation,  for  that  document  nowhere  con 
fers  upon  Congress  the  power  to  make  binding  con 
tracts,  nor  for  that  matter  to  legislate  in  any  wise 
for  the  government  of  the  common  domain. 

The  Ohio  Company  hastened  to  colonize  its  broad 
acres  on  the  Muskingum.  Before  the  end  of  the  year 
1787,  the  vanguard  of  the  first  colony  was  on  the 
march  through  Pennsylvania  to  the  upper  waters  of 
the  Ohio.  There  they  spent  the  winter  constructing 
the  craft  which  was  to  carry  them  to  their  destina 
tion.  As  soon  as  the  ice  broke  up  in  the  spring,  they 
embarked  on  the  Mayflower,  —  for  so  they  had  chris 
tened  the  craft,  —  and  within  five  days  set  foot  on 
the  soil  of  Ohio.  Other  bands  joined  them,  and  by 
midsummer  their  rude  huts  and  a  blockhouse  marked 
the  site  of  what  was  to  be  the  town  of  Marietta,  the 


14  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

first  New  England  settlement  in  the  West.  Across 
the  Muskingum,  at  Fort  Harmar,  the  new  governor, 
General  St.  Clair,  had  already  taken  up  his  official 
residence.  Farther  down  the  river,  Symmes  planted 
a  colony  from  New  Jersey  on  the  tract  which  he  had 
purchased  ;  and  within  the  next  few  years  settlements 
were  made  in  the  adjoining  district,  which  Virginia 
had  reserved  as  bounty  land  for  her  soldiers.  The 
vision  of  virgin  lands  in  the  Ohio  country  was  be 
ginning  to  dawn  upon  the  small  farmer  of  the  East. 
Emigration  grew  apace.  Between  February  and  June, 
1788,  an  observer  noted  not  less  than  forty-five  hun 
dred  settlers  drifting  past  Fort  Harmar  in  their  flat- 
boats,  in  search  of  new  homes  in  the  wilderness. 

While  the  colonization  of  the  Northwest  was  going 
on  under  the  eye  of  Governor  St.  Clair,  hardy  pio 
neers  were  laying  the  foundations  of  a  new  society 
in  the  Southwest,  without  the  protecting  arm  of  the 
Government.  Before  the  war  Daniel  Boone  had  made 
his  famous  trace  to  "  the  country  of  Kentucke " 
through  the  Cumberland  Gap ;  and  Robertson  had 
led  his  colony  from  North  Carolina  to  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Tennessee.  Settlers  had  followed  the 
long-rangers  ;  and  numerous  communities  sprang  up 
by  salt  lick  and  water  course.  In  all  these  settle 
ments  there  was  much  local  independence.  For  a 
time  the  people  on  the  Watauga  had  established  a 
government  of  their  own.  Upon  the  cession  by  North 
Carolina  of  her  western  lands,  the  settlers  of  eastern 
Tennessee  took  matters  into  their  own  hands  and  pre 
pared  to  organize  as  a  State.  Congress  had  just 
adopted  the  Ordinance  of  1784,  and  one  of  Jeffer- 


ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION    15 

son's  prospective  States  included  most  of  the  land 
already  appropriated  by  these  pioneers.  They  nour 
ished,  too,  long-standing  grievances.  They  were  taxed 
for  the  support  of  a  government  which  treated  them 
with  contumely  and  ignored  their  administrative 
needs.  The  movement  toward  independence  acquired 
such  headway  that  not  even  the  repeal  of  the  act  of 
cession  by  North  Carolina  could  stay  its  course.  With 
a  confidence  born  of  frontier  conditions  these  "  mod 
ern  Franks,  the  hardy  mountain  men,"  as  a  contem 
porary  called  them,  drafted  a  constitution,  organized 
a  government,  and  appealed  to  Congress  for  recog 
nition  as  a  State  of  the  Confederation.  For  three 
years  the  State  of  Franklin,  as  it  was  officially  chris 
tened,  under  the  able  leadership  of  Governor  John 
Sevier,  refused  to  recognize  the  authority  of  North 
Carolina,  even  to  the  point  of  resisting  the  militia 
by  arms.  But  Congress  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  peti 
tions  of  the  insurgents;  and  in  the  year  1788,  diplo 
macy  succeeding  where  coercion  had  failed,  the  peo 
ple  of  Franklin  returned  to  their  first  allegiance. 

Much  the  same  centrifugal  forces  were  at  work  in 
northwestern  Virginia  and  western  Pennsylvania,  a 
region  which  felt  its  isolation  keenly.  "  Separated  by 
a  vast,  extensive  and  almost  impassible  Tract  of 
Mountains,  by  Nature  itself  formed  and  pointed  out 
as  a  Boundary  between  this  Country  and  those  below 
it,"  the  settlers  of  this  trans-Alleghany  region  be 
sought  Congress  to  recognize  them  as  a  "  sister  col 
ony  and  fourteenth  province  of  the  American  Con 
federacy." 

More  menacing  to  the  integrity  of  Virginia  was  a 


16  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

movement  for  independent  statehood  among  the  peo 
ple  of  Kentucky.  Rivers  were  the  highways  of  their 
commerce  and  the  current  of  all  bore  their  flatboats 
away  from  the  parent  State.  New  Orleans  was  their 
inevitable  entrepot.  The  forces  of  nature  seemed  to 
conspire  to  throw  these  western  settlements  into  the 
hands  of  Spain.  Washington  was  deeply  impressed 
by  the  necessity  of  connecting  the  headwaters  of  the 
James  and  the  Potomac  with  the  tributaries  of  the 
Ohio,  if  the  trade  and  allegiance  of  the  people  of 
Kentucky  were  to  be  secured  to  Virginia  and  to  the 
Union.  "  The  western  States,"  he  wrote  to  Governor 
Harrison  of  Virginia,  "  stand  as  it  were  upon  a  pivot. 
The  touch  of  a  feather  would  turn  them  any  way." 
The  situation  in  Kentucky  became  more  acute  as 
intimations  reached  the  people  that  John  Jay  was 
proposing  to  renounce  the  free  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi. 

In  the  summer  of  1785,  Don  Diego  de  Gardoqui, 
the  first  accredited  Minister  from  Spain,  arrived  in 
the  United  States  to  settle  all  outstanding  differ 
ences  between  the  two  countries.  Congress  appointed 
John  Jay  as  its  diplomatic  agent  and  instructed  him 
to  hold  insistently  to  the  thirty -first  parallel  as  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  States  and  to  the  free  nav 
igation  of  the  Mississippi.  The  prospect  of  agree 
ment  was  very  slight.  The  American  claims  were 
based  solely  on  the  Treaty  of  1783  which  the  King 
of  Spain  was  determined  not  to  recognize.  Negotia 
tions  dragged  on  for  months.  Reporting  to  Congress 
in  August,  1786,  Jay  advised  the  abandonment  of 
the  claim  of  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  for 


ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION    17 

the  sake  of  securing  an  advantageous  commercial 
treaty  with  Spain.  The  delegates  from  Northern 
States  were  ready  to  barter  away  the  Southwest; 
but  the  Southern  delegates  succeeded  in  postpon 
ing  action  until  the  impotent  Confederation  gave 
way  to  a  more  perfect  union. 

At  the  Court  of  St.  James,  John  Adams  was  hav 
ing  no  better  luck  in  pressing  the  rights  of  the  mor 
ibund  Confederation.  Notwithstanding  the  explicit 
terms  of  the  Treaty  of  1783,  British  garrisons  still 
held  strategic  posts  along  the  Great  Lakes,  exercis 
ing  a  strong  influence  upon  the  Indians  and  guard 
ing  the  interests  of  British  fur  traders.  Such  a  situ 
ation  would  have  been  intolerable  to  a  self-respecting 
nation.  Smothering  his  pride,  Adams  mustered  all 
the  diplomacy  which  his  nature  permitted  and  sought 
an  explanation  of  this  extraordinary  conduct  from 
the  ministers.  He  was  finally  told  that  he  need  not 
expect  Great  Britain  to  relinquish  the  Western  posts 
so  long  as  the  States  continued  to  put  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  the  collection  of  British  debts. 

A  general  reluctance  to  meet  financial  obligations 
was  a  deplorable  aspect  of  the  depression  to  which 
American  society  had  succumbed.  In  all  the  States 
there  was  a  more  or  less  numerous  class  of  debtors 
who  were  convinced  that  the  Government  could  help 
them  out  of  all  their  distresses.  As  the  cause  of  all 
their  woes  was  the  scarcity  of  money,  why,  let  the 
Government  manufacture  money  and  so  put  an  end 
to  the  stringency.  What  Madison  called  "  the  gen 
eral  rage  for  paper  money  "  seized  upon  Rhode  Is 
land,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  the  Carolinas,  and 


18  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Georgia.  Coupled  with  paper-money  acts  were  others 
designed  to  alleviate  the  distress  of  the  unfortunate. 
Stay  laws  of  one  sort  or  another  were  devised  to  keep 
the  wolf,  in  the  guise  of  the  sheriff,  from  the  door. 
Legal-tender  acts  made  cattle  and  produce  equiva 
lent  to  money  when  offered  in  payment  of  debts. 
Nor  was  this  legislation  inspired  altogether  by  dis 
honest  intent.  Many  believed  with  Luther  Martin, 
of  Maryland,  that  there  were  times  of  great  public 
distress  and  extreme  scarcity  of  specie  when  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  Government  to  pass  stay  laws  and 
legal-tender  acts,  "  to  prevent  the  wealthy  creditor 
and  the  moneyed  man  from  totally  destroying  the 
poor,  though  even  industrious,  debtor." 

No  State  suffered  more  from  the  paper-money 
aberration  than  Rhode  Island.  Under  pressure  from 
the  radical  elements  the  legislature  passed  an  act  for 
the  emission  of  bills  of  credit  which  were  to  be  issued 
to  any  freeholder  who  would  offer  as  security  real 
estate  of  any  sort  to  double  the  amount  of  the  loan. 
"  Many  from  all  parts  of  the  State  made  haste  to 
avail  themselves  of  their  good  fortune,  and  mort 
gaged  fields  strewn  thick  with  stones  and  covered 
with  cedars  and  stunted  pines  for  sums  such  as  could 
not  have  been  obtained  for  the  richest  pastures." 
But  when  they  sought  their  creditors,  not  a  mer 
chant  nor  a  shop-keeper  could  be  found.  Nobody 
wished  to  have  a  just  debt  discharged  in  such  cur 
rency.  Not  to  be  thwarted  in  their  purpose,  the  rad 
icals  then  enacted  a  law  which  threatened  with  a 
summary  trial  and  a  heavy  fine  any  one  who  refused 
to  accept  paper  money  in  payment  of  debt. 


ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION    19 

Under  this  Force  Act,  one  John  Weeden,  a 
butcher,  was  brought  to  trial  for  refusing  to  receive 
the  paper  offered  by  a  customer  in  payment  for 
meat.  To  the  discomfiture  of  the  legislature  the  court 
refused  to  enforce  the  law  in  this  instance,  on  the 
ground  that  the  statute  was  contrary  to  the  consti 
tution  of  Rhode  Island  ;  and  when  summoned  before 
the  legislature  to  answer  for  their  defiance,  the  judges 
boldly  stood  their  ground.  The  case  of  Trevett  v. 
Weeden  was  not  without  its  lesson  to  those  who  were 
casting  about  for  ways  and  means  to  defend  property 
from  the  assaults  of  popular  majorities.  In  Virginia, 
too,  the  highest  state  court,  in  the  case  of  Common 
wealth  v.  Caton,  boldly  asserted  the  right  of  the  ju 
diciary  to  declare  void  such  acts  of  the  legislature  as 
were  repugnant  to  the  constitution. 

Meantime  the  debtor  and  creditor  classes  in  Mas 
sachusetts  were  locked  in  a  struggle  which  menaced 
the  peace  of  the  country.  Here  as  elsewhere  hard 
times  had  forced  the  small  farmers  of  the  interior 
counties  to  the  wall.  No  doubt  their  difficulties  were 
caused  in  part  by  their  own  improvidence,  but  they 
were  increased  by  the  prevailing  scarcity  of  money. 
So  dire  was  the  want  of  a  medium  of  exchange  that 
many  communities  resorted  to  barter.  The  editor  of 
a  Worcester  paper  advertised  that  he  would  accept 
Indian  corn,  rye,  wheat,  wood,  or  flaxseed,  in  pay 
ment  of  debts  owed  to  him,  up  to  the  amount  of 
twenty  shillings.  It  seemed  to  the  ignorant  farmei 
that  his  creditors  were  taking  an  unfair  advantage 
of  circumstances  in  demanding  currency  to  settle 
debts  which  had  been  contracted  when  money  was 


20  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

abundant.  The  law,  however,  favored  the  creditor. 
The  jails  were  filled  to  overflowing  with  men  im 
prisoned  for  debt ;  the  courts  were  overwhelmed 
with  actions.  In  Worcester  County,  with  a  popula 
tion  of  less  than  fifty  thousand  people,  there  were 
in  1784  two  thousand  cases  on  the  docket  of  the 
Inferior  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  In  this  age  of 
litigation  only  one  class  appeared  to  thrive  —  the 
lawyers.  The  anger  of  the  poor  debtors,  inflamed 
by  attachments  and  foreclosures,  vented  itself  upon 
the  ostensible  cause  of  their  misfortunes.  The  ex 
cessive  costs  of  courts  and  the  immoderate  fees  of 
lawyers  are  grievances  which  bulk  large  in  every  in 
dictment  drawn  by  town  meeting  or  county  conven 
tion.  Young  John  Quincy  Adams,  then  a  senior  in 
Harvard  College,  was  so  affected  by  the  odium 
which  had  fallen  upon  the  practice  of  law  that  he 
was  almost  ready  to  abandon  the  career  which  he 
had  chosen. 

The  adjournment  of  the  General  Court  in  July, 
1786,  without  authorizing  an  issue  of  paper  money 
or  passing  a  legal-tender  act  or  fixing  the  fees  of 
lawyers  and  the  costs  of  courts,  contributed  to  the 
unrest  which  was  now  assuming  a  threatening  as 
pect.  During  August  and  September  riotous  mobs 
prevented  the  courts  from  sitting  at  Northampton, 
Worcester,  Great  Barrington,  and  Concord.  Alarmed 
by  these  disorders  Governor  Bowdoin  convened  the 
legislature  in  special  session  and  summoned  the  mi 
litia  to  the  protection  of  the  capital.  While  the  leg 
islature  was  devising  ways  and  means  of  allaying 
the  public  excitement,  another  demonstration  oc- 


ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION    21 

curred  at  Worcester  which  resulted  in  the  dispersion 
of  the  Court  of  General  Sessions  by  a  force  of  armed 
men.  From  Worcester  the  disorders  spread  into  ad 
joining  counties ;  and  something  like  a  concerted 
movement  upon  Boston  and  Cambridge  seemed  to 
be  preparing.  The  prompt  action  of  the  state  au 
thorities,  however,  balked  the  plans  of  the  insur 
gents.  The  main  body  of  insurgents  under  Shays 
scattered ;  but  a  month  later  they  rallied  around 
Springfield  to  prevent  the  holding  of  court.  Gov 
ernor  Bovvdoin  then  dispatched  troops,  four  thou 
sand  strong,  under  the  command  of  General  Lincoln, 
to  the  assistance  and  protection  of  the  civil  author 
ities.  A  civil  war  seemed  imminent.  Shays  had 
planned  an  attack  upon  the  national  arsenal  at 
Springfield,  but  he  could  not  bring  his  rustics  to  act 
together.  Before  the  determined  resistance  of  the 
local  militia  his  undisciplined  troops  broke  and  fled. 
The  arrival  of  the  state  militia  under  Lincoln  com 
pleted  the  demoralization  of  Shays'  army.  Retreat 
ing  through  the  hilly  country  of  Hampshire,  they 
were  finally  overtaken  and  routed  at  Petersham. 
Some  of  the  insurgents  went  to  their  homes,  com 
pletely  humbled  and  subdued  ;  others  fled  across  the 
border  to  await  better  times ;  and  still  others,  unre 
pentant  and  unsubdued,  continued  to  harass  the 
countryside.  It  was  not  until  the  following  Septem 
ber  that  Governor  Bowdoin  ventured  to  disband  the 
militia. 

To  these  disturbances  in  Massachusetts,  Congress 
had  not  remained  indifferent.  Aside  from  the  direct 
interest  that  all  members  were  bound  to  take  in  a 


22  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

rebellion  which  seemed  to  threaten  the  very  founda 
tions  of  a  sister  State  and  which  might  easily  recur 
in  their  own,  Congress  was  concerned  for  the  fate 
of  the  national  arsenal  at  Springfield.  But  no  forces 
were  available  for  the  protection  of  the  property 
of  the  Confederation.  The  few  hundred  men  who 
comprised  the  army  were  scattered  in  garrisons 
along  the  western  frontier.  Acting  as  intermediary 
between  Congress  and  Governor  Bowdoin,  General 
Knox  as  Secretary  of  War  made  what  provision  he 
could  for  the  defense  of  the  arsenal  by  local  militia ; 
but  these  measures  were  confessedly  inadequate. 
Upon  his  report  Congress  was  finally  moved  to  in 
crease  the  army,  ostensibly  for  the  protection  of  the 
frontier,  where  in  truth  Indian  hostilities  required 
the  presence  of  additional  troops.  As  these  forces 
would  be  raised  chiefly  in  New  England,  they  could 
be  employed  first  to  protect  Springfield.  Any  open 
avowal  of  this  plan  was  avoided,  however,  lest  the 
insurgents  should  take  alarm  and  immediately  attack 
the  arsenal.  But  these  plans  were  wrecked  on  the 
reef  of  financial  bankruptcy.  Congress  could  only 
supplicate  the  States  for  money  and  borrow  what  it 
might  on  its  expectations.  Recruiting  went  on  so 
slowly  that  the  rebellion  was  practically  over  when 
two  companies  of  artillery,  numbering  seventy-three 
men  each,  which  had  been  raised  in  Massachusetts, 
were  finally  marched  to  Springfield.  All  the  other 
recruits  were  dismissed.  The  inefficiency  of  Congress 
and  its  want  of  moral  influence  were  self-confessed. 
In  his  famous  circular  letter  of  1783,  Washington 
had  spoken  of  the  times  as  a  period  of  "  political  pro- 


ORDEAL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATION    23 

bation."  The  moment  had  come  for  the  United  States 
to  determine,  said  he,  "  whether  they  will  be  respect 
able  and  prosperous,  or  contemptible  and  miserable, 
as  a  nation."  Three  years  had  now  passed  and  the 
period  of  probation  seemed  to  have  ended  in  the  ruin 
of  national  hopes.  The  events  of  the  years  1786 
made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  minds  of  all 
responsible  and  conservative  men.  In  undisguised 
alarm,  Washington  wrote:  "  There  are  combustibles 
in  every  State  which  a  spark  might  set  fire  to.  ...  I 
feel  .  .  .  infinitely  more  than  I  can  express  to  you, 
for  the  disorders  which  have  arisen  in  these  States. 
Good  God  !  Who,  besides  a  Tory,  could  have  fore 
seen,  or  a  Briton,  predicted  them?"  Rightly  or 
wrongly,  men  of  the  upper  classes  believed  that  the 
foundations  of  society  were  threatened  and  that  the 
State  Governments  would  fall  a  prey  to  the  radical 
and  unpropertied  elements,  unless  a  stronger  Fed 
eral  Government  were  created.  "  With  this  idea,  they 
are  thinking,  very  seriously,"  wrote  an  interested 
observer  at  the  seat  of  Federal  Government  in  New 
York,  "  in  what  manner  to  effect  the  most  easy  and 
natural  change  of  the  present  form  of  the  Federal 
Government  to  one  more  energetic,  that  will,  at  the 
same  time,  create  respect,  and  secure  properly  life, 
liberty,  and  property.  It  is,  therefore,  not  uncommon 
to  hear  the  principles  of  government  stated  in  com 
mon  conversation.  Emperors,  kings,  stadtholders, 
governors-general,  with  a  senate  or  house  of  lords, 
and  house  of  commons,  are  frequently  the  topics  of 
conversation."  There  were  those  who  frankly  advo 
cated  a  monarchical  government  as  the  only  way  of 


24  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

escape  from  the  ills  under  which  American  society 
was  laboring.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  a  pro 
ject  was  on  foot  to  invite  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia  to 
become  the  head  of  a  new  consolidated  government. 
The  influence  of  the  Order  of  the  Cincinnati  was 
much  feared  by  friends  of  republican  institutions.  In 
dividually  members  of  the  order  did  not  hesitate  to 
express  their  impatience  with  popular  government. 
What  was  to  come  out  of  this  political  chaos,  no  man 
could  tell. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  two  most  extensive  histories  dealing  with  the  period  of  the 
Confederation  are  George  Bancroft's  History  of  the  Formation  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  of  America  (2  vols.,  1882)  and 
G.  T.  Curtis's  History  of  the  Origin,  Formation,  and  Adoption  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  (2  vols.,  1854).  In  the  fourth 
volume  of  Hildreth's  History  of  the  United  States  (6  vols.,  1849-52), 
a  concise  but  rather  dry  account  of  the  Confederation  may  be 
found.  More  entertaining  is  John  Fiske's  The  Critical  Period  of 
American  History,  1783-1789  (1888).  Valuable  information  bear 
ing  on  the  social  as  well  as  the  political  history  of  the  times  is  con- 
gained  in  the  first  volume  of  J.  B.  McMaster's  History  of  the  People 
of  the  United  States  from  the  Revolution  to  the  Civil  War  (7  vols., 
1883-1913).  More  recent  histories  of  the  period  are  A.  C.  Mc- 
Laughlin's  The  Confederation  and  the  Constitution,  1783-1789  (in 
The  American  Nation,  vol.  10,  1905),  and  Edward  Channing's 
History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  in  (3  vols.,  1905-  ).  A  vigorous 
narrative  of  the  exploits  of  the  pioneers  beyond  the  Alleghanies 
has  been  written  by  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West 
(4  vols.,  1889-96).  A  more  restrained  account  of  the  beginnings  of 
Western  settlement  is  B.  A.  Hinsdale's  The  Old  Northwest,  the 
Beginnings  of  our  Colonial  System  (1899). 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   MAKING    OF   THE    CONSTITUTION 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  manifold  differences  be 
tween  State  and  State  in  the  Confederation,  there 
were  everywhere  groups  of  men  who  confronted  much 
the  same  economic  conditions.  Between  the  farmer 
who  tilled  his  sterile  hillside  acres  in  the  interior  of 
New  England  and  the  cultivator  of  the  richer  soil 
of  the  Piedmont  in  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  a 
greater  identity  of  economic  interests  existed  than 
the  casual  observer  would  have  suspected.  The  feel 
ing  of  hostility  which  circumstances  bred  in  the  fol 
lowers  of  Daniel  Shays  toward  the  merchants  of 
Boston  was  akin  to  that  which  the  farmers  of  middle 
and  western  Pennsylvania  harbored  toward  the  aris 
tocratic  and  wealthy  classes  of  Philadelphia  and  the 
eastern  counties.  A  similar  antagonism  appears  be 
tween  the  yeomen  of  the  uplands  and  the  planters  of 
the  tidewater  farther  to  the  south,  accentuated,  no 
doubt,  by  religious  and  racial  differences.  The  Scotch- 
Irish  or  German  dissenter,  who  was  treated  with  con 
tempt  as  a  foreigner  and  forced  to  support  a  church 
established  by  a  State  Government  which  discrimi 
nated  against  numbers  and  in  favor  of  property,  was 
not  likely  to  feel  kindly  toward  the  tidewater  aris 
tocracy.  Bad  crops  spelled  disaster  for  these  farmers, 
for  they  had  incurred  debt  to  purchase  their  lands 
and  had  borrowed  capital  to  work  them.  In  hard  times 


26  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

they  were  the  first  to  suffer,  for  whether  money  was 
scarce  or  plentiful,  the  tax-collector  and  the  money 
lender  knocked  inexorably  at  their  doors.  Bad  roads 
kept  them  isolated  and  want  of  intercourse  bred 
much  ignorance  and  prejudice  in  even  honest  men. 
Were  the  recorded  grievances  of  these  inland  groups 
brought  together,  they  would  show  a  surprising  agree 
ment. 

Set  over  against  this  interior  population  with  pre 
dominant  agrarian  interests  were  those  classes,  urban 
for  the  most  part,  whose  income  was  derived  from 
personal  rather  than  real  property.  Even  at  this  time 
a  capitalist  class  of  no  mean  proportions  existed.  No 
inconsiderable  part  of  this  personalty  was  invested 
in  shipping  and  manufacturing.  A  part,  not  easily 
determined,  was  tied  up  in  Western  lands,  which 
appealed  strongly  to  the  speculative  instincts  of  the 
American.  The  amount  of  money  at  interest  was 
also  considerable  in  States  like  Massachusetts.  As 
creditors  of  the  debt-burdened  farmers  these  classes 
were  everywhere  on  the  defensive.  To  this  group 
should  be  added  the  holders  of  public  securities,  both 
state  and  continental,  who  could  not  have  remained 
uninterested  witnesses  of  the  demise  of  the  Confed 
eration. 

The  logic  of  events  was  drawing  these  holders  of 
personal  property  together.  Capitalists  with  idle 
money  found  the  avenues  to  profitable  investment 
closed  by  the  inability  of  Congress  to  offer  protec 
tion  to  either  manufacturing  or  shipping ;  creditors 
with  money  at  interest  witnessed  with  alarm  the 
'nability  or  unwillingness  of  state  legislatures  to  re- 


MAKING   THE   CONSTITUTION         27 

sist  attacks  upon  private  contracts  and  public  credit; 
holders  of  public  securities  shared  the  general  con 
tempt  for  a  Government,  which,  so  far  from  provid 
ing  for  the  ultimate  redemption  of  its  obligations, 
could  not  even  pay  interest  on  its  debts ;  speculators 
in  lands  despaired  of  a  rise  in  values  so  long  as  the 
Government  could  not  defend  its  borders  and  pro 
tect  its  frontier  population.  The  desire  of  all  these 
classes,  from  Boston  to  Charleston,  was  for  a  Gov 
ernment  which  would  govern. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  idea  of  a  special 
convention  to  revise  the  Articles  of  Confederation 
grew  in  favor.  Some  of  the  States,  notably  Dela 
ware,  Massachusetts,  and  New  Hampshire,  had  em 
ployed  constituent  conventions  to  draft  new  frames 
of  government.  The  legislature  of  New  York  had  in 
1782  proposed  a  convention  to  revise  the  Articles  of 
Confederation.  At  the  suggestion  of  Governor  Bow- 
doin,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  had  re 
solved  in  1785  in  favor  of  such  a  convention;  but 
the  delegates  in  Congress,  for  reasons  best  known 
to  themselves,  had  refused  to  present  the  resolution. 
In  any  case  Congress  could  hardly  be  expected  to 
take  the  initiative. 

For  many  years  Virginia  and  Maryland  had  been 
at  loggerheads  over  the  navigation  of  the  Potomac 
River  and  Chesapeake  Bay.  In  1784  commissioners 
from  both  States  met  at  Alexandria,  and  subse 
quently  at  Washington's  country-seat,  at  Mount 
Vernon,  to  make  a  last  effort  to  adjudicate  their 
differences.  It  speedily  appeared  that  the  question 
of  commercial  regulations  was  one  that  concerned 


28  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

also  their  neighbors  to  the  north.  Maryland  proposed 
that  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  should  be  invited 
to  a  further  conference.  The  assembly  of  Virginia 
went  still  further  and  appointed  delegates  to  meet 
with  delegates  from  other  States  "  to  take  into  con 
sideration  the  trade  of  the  United  States  "  and  "  to 
consider  how  far  a  uniform  system  in  their  commer 
cial  regulations  may  be  necessary  to  their  common 
interest  and  their  permanent  harmony."  Annapolis 
was  selected  as  the  place  of  meeting. 

The  response  of  the  States  to  this  call  was  disap 
pointing.  Only  five  States  sent  delegates.  Positive 
action  on  trade  relations  was,  of  course,  out  of  the 
question.  But  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  attended 
as  a  delegate  from  New  York,  drafted  a  report  which 
went  far  to  redeem  the  situation.  Addressed  to  the 
legislatures  of  the  States  represented  at  Annapolis, 
it  called  attention  to  the  critical  state  of  the  Union 
and  the  need  of  a  convention  of  delegates  with  wider 
powers  from  all  the  States  ;  and  in  conclusion,  it 
named  Philadelphia  and  the  second  Monday  in  May, 
1787,  as  a  suitable  place  and  time  for  such  a  con 
vention.  "  From  motives  of  respect "  a  copy  of  this  re 
port  dated  September  14, 1786,  was  sent  to  Congress. 

With  its  wonted  indecision,  Congress  dallied  with 
this  bold  proposal  until  late  in  the  following  Febru 
ary.  Meantime,  Virginia  and  other  States  appointed 
delegates  to  the  convention  which  Congress  had  not 
yet  sanctioned.  When  Congress  finally  issued  the 
summons,  it  made  no  reference  to  the  Annapolis 
Convention,  though  it  took  over  bodily  the  recom 
mendations  of  that  body.  The  sole  and  express  pur- 


MAKING  THE  CONSTITUTION         29 

pose  of  the  convention  was  declared  to  be  the  revi 
sion  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 

The  delegates  to  the  Philadelphia  Convention 
were  to  be  "  appointed  by  the  States."  As  a  matter 
of  course,  the  choice  devolved  upon  the  legislature 
in  every  instance.  To  what  extent  the  active  eco 
nomic  interests  directed  and  controlled  the  selection 
is  a  mere  matter  of  speculation.  Certain  it  is  that 
the  members  of  the  convention  belonged  to  the  gov 
erning  class  in  their  respective  communities.  Almost 
to  a  man  they  had  held  important  public  positions. 
To  a  surprising  extent  they  came  from  the  commer 
cial  sections  of  their  States.  "  Not  one  member  rep 
resented  in  his  immediate  personal  economic  inter 
ests  the  small  farming  or  mechanic  classes."  A  large 
majority  were  "  directly  and  personally  interested  in 
the  outcome  of  their  labors  through  their  ownership 
of  property,  real  or  personal."  Many  were  holders 
of  public  securities  and  profited  by  the  later  funding 
operations  of  the  new  Government ;  some  had  in 
vested  in  Western  lands ;  others  had  capital  invested 
in  manufacturing,  shipping,  and  slaves.  Thus  cir 
cumstanced,  they  had  no  mind  to  try  doubtful  exper 
iments  in  government. 

Among  the  first  of  the  delegates  to  reach  Phila 
delphia  was  James  Madison.  Other  members  of  the 
Virginia  delegation  soon  joined  him,  and  on  the  13th 
of  May,  Washington  made  what  was  really  a  tri 
umphant  entry  into  the  city.  When  the  14th  dawned 
only  a  few  delegates  had  arrived.  Inclement  weather 
and  bad  roads  detained  many,  no  doubt ;  but  a  gen 
eral  dilatoriness  in  heeding  the  summons  was  ac- 


30  UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

countable  for  the  tardiness  of  others.  Until  a  major- 
ity  of  States  were  represented,  the  delegates  could 
only  adjourn  from  day  to  day.  That  the  gentlemen 
from  Virginia  put  this  time  to  good  use  appears  from 
the  plan  which  they  drew  up  as  a  tentative  program 
and  which  Randolph  presented  to  the  convention. 
Indeed,  there  is  little  doubt  that  much  unrecorded 
progress  was  made  throughout  the  convention  by  in 
formal  conferences  among  the  leaders. 

It  was  not  until  Friday,  May  25,  that  seven 
States  were  represented  and  a  preliminary  organiza 
tion  could  be  effected.  Washington  was  the  unani 
mous  choice  for  president,  though  tradition  has  it 
that  Franklin  was  the  first  choice  of  many  delegates. 
Altogether,  though  not  at  any  one  time,  there  were 
fifty-five  delegates  in  attendance  from  twelve  States. 
Rhode  Island  was  never  represented.  The  average 
attendance  was  hardly  more  than  thirty.  It  was  pos 
sible,  therefore,  to  adopt  simple  rules  of  procedure 
and  to  permit  full  discussion.  The  credentials  of  the 
delegates  gave  them,  with  a  single  exception,  free 
hand  in  revising  the  Articles  of  Confederation.  Del 
aware  alone  forbade  its  representatives  to  make  any 
alterations  which  should  deprive  the  State  of  its  equal 
vote  in  Congress. 

As  the  doors  closed  on  this  notable  body  in  the 
chamber  over  Independence  Hall  in  the  State  House, 
profound  secrecy  enveloped  its  proceedings.  Not 
until  the  publication  of  the  journal  by  act  of  Con 
gress  in  1819  were  the  actual  proceedings  of  the  con 
vention  divulged  ;  and  many  more  years  passed  before 
Madison's  notes  on  the  debates  were  given  to  the 


MAKING  THE  CONSTITUTION         31 

curious  public.  The  earth  scattered  on  the  pavement 
to  silence  the  rattling  of  wheels  and  the  sentries  sta 
tioned  at  the  doors  to  warn  intruders  gave  added 
emphasis  to  the  importance  of  this  gathering. 

The  task  before  the  convention  was  one  of  im 
mense  difficulty.  The  most  general  criticism  of  the 
Confederation  was  that  expressed  in  the  vague  phrase, 
"  lack  of  power  "  ;  but  the  defect  could  not  be  over 
come  merely  by  giving  new  powers  to  Congress. 
Any  such  increase  of  authority  involved  a  delicate 
readjustment  of  the  relations  of  the  States  to  each 
other  and  to  the  central  Government.  Before  the 
convention  had  been  in  session  a  fortnight,  a  line  of 
cleavage  among  the  delegates  appeared.  To  the  most 
obtuse  mind  the  resolutions  presented  as  the  Vir 
ginia  plan  seemed  to  reach  far  beyond  any  mere  re 
vision  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation.  Randolph 
frankly  admitted  the  scope  of  his  resolutions  by  urging 
that  a  union  of  the  States  merely  federal  would  not 
suffice.  The  convention  so  far  yielded  to  the  general 
drift  as  to  adopt,  in  committee  of  the  whole,  the  res 
olution  "  that  a  national  government  ought  to  be 
established  consisting  of  a  supreme  Legislative,  Ex 
ecutive,  and  Judiciary." 

As  the  group  of  nationally  minded  delegates,  led 
by  Madison  and  Wilson,  of  Pennsylvania,  seized  this 
initial  advantage  and  secured  the  acceptance,  step  by 
step,  of  the  main  features  of  a  national  government, 
the  delegates  from  the  smaller  States  drew  together 
in  alarmed  opposition.  It  was  in  their  behalf  that 
Paterson,  of  New  Jersey,  presented  his  resolutions. 
In  contrast  to  the  Virginia  plan,  this  held  out  only 


32  UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

the  prospect  of  an  improved  Confederation.  Addi 
tional  powers  were  to  be  given  to  Congress  and  there 
was  to  be  an  executive  and  a  supreme  judiciary ;  but 
the  basal  principle  of  the  Confederation  —  the  equal 
ity  of  the  States  —  was  left  untouched.  Given  the 
alternative  between  the  New  Jersey  plan  and  the  Vir 
ginia  plan  as  amended,  sevcm  States  voted  for  the 
latter.  Only  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware 
preferred  the  former.  The  vote  of  Maryland  was  di 
vided.  The  convention  then  returned  to  the  detailed 
consideration  of  the  amended  Virginia  plan.  The 
large-State  men  were  now  disposed  to  make  some 
concessions.  The  word  "  national  "  was  dropped  from 
all  the  resolutions;  and  minor  changes  were  made  in 
the  interest  of  harmony.  But  on  the  fundamental 
question  of  what  was  termed  "  proportional  repre 
sentation,"  —  that  is,  representation  of  the  States  in 
proportion  to  numbers  in  the  national  legislature,  — 
no  agreement  seemed  possible.  More  than  once  the 
convention  was  on  the  point  of  adjourning  sine  die. 
Even  the  usually  placid  Franklin  suggested  that 
"  prayers  imploring  the  assistance  of  Heaven  ...  be 
held  in  this  Assembly  every  morning." 

In  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  smaller  States,  the 
convention  finally  voted  that  the  rule  of  suffrage  in 
the  first  branch  of  the  legislature  ought  not  to  be 
according  to  that  established  by  the  Articles  of  Con 
federation.  Debate  then  turned  on  the  manner  of 
constituting  the  upper  chamber.  On  July  2,  a  vote 
was  taken  on  the  proposal  of  the  Connecticut  dele 
gation  that  each  State  should  have  an  equal  vote  in 
the  upper  house.  The  result  was  a  tie,  five  States 


MAKING  THE  CONSTITUTION         33 

against  five,  with  the  vote  of  one  State  divided.  The 
deadlock  seemed  complete. 

Hoping  that  a  coin  promise  might  even  yet  be  ef 
fected,  General  Pinckney  proposed  a  committee  of 
one  from  each  State  to  consider  the  whole  matter. 
Opposition  was  made,  but  the  convention  indorsed 
the  proposal  and  chose  the  members  of  the  committee 
by  ballot.  The  selection  was  obviously  favorable  to 
the  small-State  party,  for  the  committee  abandoned 
the  idea  of  proportional  representation  in  the  second 
chamber.  On  July  5,  it  recommended  that  in  the 
first  branch  of  the  legislature  there  should  be  one 
representative  for  every  forty  thousand  inhabitants  in 
each  State,  counting  three  fifths  of  the  slaves,  and 
that  in  the  second  chamber  the  States  should  have  an 
equal  vote.  The  first  proposition  underwent  further 
changes  at  the  hands  of  a  special  committee,  but  the 
principle  of  representation  was  accepted.  On  July 
16,  the  first  proposition  as  amended  and  the  second 
proposition  without  change  were  adopted  by  a  vote  of 
five  States  to  four,  with  the  vote  of  one  State  divided. 
Very  properly  historians  have  termed  this  the  great 
compromise  of  the  Constitution,  for  without  it  the 
further  work  of  the  convention  would  have  been  im 
possible.  In  agreeing  that  three  fifths  of  the  slaves 
should  be  counted  in  apportioning  representation,  the 
convention  made  no  innovation,  but  simply  took  over 
the  federal  ratio  which  Congress  had  recommended 
in  1783  as  the  basis  for  future  apportionment  of  re 
quisitions  among  the  States.  On  this  point  there  was 
no  great  difference  of  opinion  in  the  convention. 

It  would  be  a  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that 


34  UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

with  this  obstacle  to  union  removed,  the  Constitution 
speedily  took  form.  On  the  contrary,  every  proposal 
bristled  with  controversial  points.  The  Northern 
commercial  States  demanded  insistently  that  Con 
gress  should  be  given  power  to  regulate  commerce. 
It  was,  indeed,  the  desire  of  the  commercial  classes 
in  all  the  States  that  Congress  should  be  given  power 
to  pass  retaliatory  acts  against  Great  Britain,  but 
the  planters  of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  feared  — 
not  without  reason  —  that  the  power  to  regulate 
commerce  might  be  used  to  interfere  with  the  im 
portation  of  slaves.  Here,  too,  the  spirit  of  compro 
mise  prevailed.  The  power  was  granted,  but  the  im 
portation  of  such  persons  as  the  States  thought 
proper  to  admit  was  not  to  be  prohibited  before  the 
year  1808. 

From  first  to  last,  divergent  views  were  held  as  to 
the  constitution  of  the  chief  executive  office.  After 
the  initial  question,  whether  the  office  should  be 
single  or  plural,  was  decided,  the  manner  of  election 
remained  to  be  considered.  The  early  proposal  to 
make  the  President  elective  by  the  national  legisla 
ture  was  dropped  as  the  office  assumed  greater  impor 
tance  in  the  general  scheme.  If  the  independence  of 
the  legislature  was  to  be  maintained,  some  form  of  in 
direct  popular  choice  was  favored.  But  if  the  people 
were  to  elect,  the  larger  States  would  have  a  decided 
advantage.  Here  was  the  old  question  in  another  form. 
The  electoral  scheme  finally  adopted  was  essentially 
a  compromise.  In  most  instances  —  Mason,  of  Vir 
ginia,  said  nineteen  out  of  twenty  times  —  it  was 
believed  that  the  electors  would  so  scatter  their  votes 


MAKING  THE  CONSTITUTION         35 

that  no  candidate  would  have  a  majority ;  conse 
quently  the  Senate  would  make  a  choice  from  among 
the  five  candidates  having  the  highest  votes.  By  this 
arrangement  the  large  States  would  in  effect  nomi 
nate  and  the  small  States  elect  the  President.  But 
because  the  Senate  had  already  been  given  extensive 
powers,  the  convention  transferred  the  final  election 
to  the  House,  with  the  provision  that  the  vote  there 
should  be  by  States.  The  eventual  election  of  a  Vice- 
President  was  left  to  the  Senate,  whenever  the  elec 
toral  college  failed  to  make  a  choice. 

From  time  to  time  the  convention  resorted  to  com 
mittees  to  facilitate  its  work.  Most  important  serv 
ices  were  rendered  by  the  committee  of  detail,  which 
early  in  August  put  into  orderly  and  connected  form 
the  conclusions  which  the  convention  had  reached. 
It  was  the  committee  on  unfinished  business  which 
suggested  the  method  finally  adopted  of  electing  the 
President.  In  its  final  form  and  phrasing  the  Con 
stitution  is  the  work  of  Gouverneur  Morris,  who 
prepared  the  report  of  the  committee  of  style. 

Citizens  of  Philadelphia  who  took  up  their  copies 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Advertiser  on  Tuesday,  Sep 
tember  17,  found  to  their  surprise  that  the  columns 
were  completely  filled  with  the  new  Constitution. 
This  was  their  first  intimation  of  what  the  conven 
tion  had  really  done.  Rumor  had  stalked  abroad 
that  the  convention  was  rent  by  dissensions  ;  but  the 
curious  reader  saw  at  the  end  of  his  paper  the  words, 
"  Done  in  convention  by  the  unanimous  consent  of 
the  States  ...  in  witness  whereof  we  have  here 
unto  subscribed  our  names."  Done  by  unanimous 


36  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

consent  of  the  delegates  the  Constitution  was  not, 
for  not  all  the  delegates  who  were  present  on  the  last 
day  would  affix  their  signatures.  It  was  Gouverneur 
Morris  who  suggested  the  phrase  which  gave  a  spe 
cious  unanimity  to  the  work  of  the  convention. 

The  thoughtful  reader  of  the  Constitution  must 
have  been  impressed  by  the  new  features  which 
caught  his  eye.  In  place  of  the  old  inefficient  and 
powerless  Congress,  he  observed  a  well-organized 
national  legislature,  an  independent  executive,  and 
a  federal  judiciary  of  ample  jurisdiction.  Further 
scrutiny  must  have  apprised  him  that  the  new  Gov 
ernment  would  operate  directly  upon  individuals, 
thus  remedying  a  vital  defect  in  the  Confederation. 
The  powers  given  to  Congress  may  well  have  set  at 
rest  the  minds  of  anxious  public  creditors.  With  the 
power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  to  raise  and  support 
a  military  and  naval  establishment,  and  to  regulate 
commerce,  Congress  had  ample  means  to  pay  the 
public  debt,  to  enforce  its  claims,  and  to  offer  pro 
tection  to  trade  and  industry.  Not  less  significant 
to  property-owners  were  the  brief  clauses  in  the  new 
Constitution  which  sharply  forbade  States  to  emit 
bills  of  credit,  to  make  anything  but  gold  and  silver 
legal  tender  in  payment  of  debts,  and  to  make  laws 
impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts. 

But  what  guaranty  was  there  that  States  would 
observe  these  prohibitions  ?  The  power  to  coerce  a 
State  was  nowhere  conferred.  The  militia,  to  be  sure, 
could  be  called  out  to  execute  the  laws ;  and  the 
United  States  guaranteed  to  every  State  a  repub 
lican  form  of  government  and  promised  protection 


MAKING  THE  CONSTITUTION        37 


Distribution  of  Votes 
in  Ratification  of  the  Constitution 

The  New  England  States 

(B*Md  on  th«  ms|>  of  Or.  O.O.Libhy  ) 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


H 


100 


against  domestic  violence.  Congress  could  deal  surely 
and  effectively  with  any  future  Shays  if  it  were  in 
vited  to  do  so.  But  what  if  a  State  passed  a  law  vio 
lating  the  obligation  of  contracts  ?  The  answer  is 


38  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

contained  in  the  clause  which  reads :  "  This  Consti 
tution,  and  the  Laws  of  the  United  States  which 
shall  be  made  in  Pursuance  thereof ;  and  all  Trea 
ties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the  Author 
ity  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  Law 
of  the  Land ;  and  the  Judges  in  every  State  shall  be 
bound  thereby,  any  Thing  in  the  Constitution  or 
Laws  of  any  State  to  the  Contrary  notwithstanding." 
This  and  the  correlative  clause  which  extended  the 
judicial  power  to  all  cases  arising  under  the  Consti 
tution,  the  laws  and  the  treaties  of  the  United  States, 
may  be  called  the  keystone  of  the  whole  constitu 
tional  structure.  "  For  the  first  time  in  history, 
courts  are  called  upon  by  the  simple  processes  of 
administering  justice,  in  cases  where  private  right 
or  personal  injury  is  involved,  to  uphold  the  struc 
ture  of  the  body  politic."  And  there  were  those  in 
the  convention  who  believed  that  the  principle  of 
judicial  control  included  the  power  of  passing  upon 
the  constitutionality  of  laws  enacted  by  Congress. 

It  was  still  within  the  power  of  the  old  Congress 
to  expedite  or  block  the  ratification  of  the  new  Con 
stitution.  The  document  which  the  Philadelphia 
Convention  presented  was  technically  only  a  revision 
of  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  which  might  be  al 
tered  only  with  the  consent  of  the  legislatures  of  all 
thirteen  States  ;  but  the  last  article  of  this  new  in 
strument  provided  that  when  ratified  by  conventions 
(not  legislatures)  in  nine  States,  it  should  go  into 
effect  among  the  States  so  acting.  In  effect,  Con 
gress  was  asked  to  sanction  a  secession  of  nine  States 
from  the  old  Union  which  had  been  declared  perpet- 


MAKING  THE  CONSTITUTION 


39 


Distribution  of  Votes 
in  Ratification  of  the  Constitution 

The  Middle  States 

(.Bawd  on  th«  map  of  Dr.  O.O.Llbby)' 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


ual.  Making  a  virtue  of  necessity,  Congress  finally 
yielded  and  passed  the  Constitution  on  to  the  States. 
Since  the  party  struggles  of  Whigs  and  Tories  no 
campaign  of  continental  proportions  had  ever  been 
seen  like  that 
which  ensued 
between  the 
friends  and  foes 
of  the  new  Con 
stitution.  By 
their  forehand- 
edness  and  their 
clear  perception 
of  what  they 
must  do,  the 
Federalists,  as 
the  proponents 
of  better  gov 
ernment  styled 
themselves,  had 
a  slight  tactical 
advantage.  The 
Anti  -  Federal 
ists  resented  the 
assumption  of 
the  name  by 
their  opponents.  They  were  the  true  friends  of  fed 
eral  government,  while  the  friends  of  the  new  Con 
stitution  aimed  to  set  up  a  consolidated  government. 
The  press  teemed  with  letters  and  essays,  allegories 
and  satires,  squibs  and  pasquinades,  expostulating, 
warning,  ridiculing.  The  public  was  invited  to  heed 


40  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

the  admonitions  of  Cato,  Cassius,  and  many  another 
worthy  Roman. 

Although  much  the  same  arguments,  sober  or 
satirical,  were  used  everywhere,  the  campaign  had 
to  be  fought  out  in  the  several  States,  each  with  its 
own  peculiar  social,  economic,  and  political  condi 
tions.  In  Massachusetts  the  eastern  counties,  with 
their  dominant  commercial  and  mercantile  interests, 
favored  the  Constitution,  while  the  interior  agricul 
tural  section,  which  had  fought  the  battles  of  the 
Revolution  and  recruited  the  ranks  of  Shays'  army, 
opposed  it.  The  interior  counties  of  New  York  con 
taining  the  farming  population  were  Anti-Federal, 
while  the  city  and  county  of  New  York  with  its  en 
virons  —  the  commercial  section  —  were  Federalist. 
In  Pennsylvania,  those  who  had  opposed  the  dom 
ination  of  the  Scotch-Irish  and  German  radicals  in 
the  State  Government  now  united  in  advocacy  of 
the  new  Constitution.  Here  as  elsewhere  the  Fed 
eral  area  corresponded  closely  to  the  counties  where 
commercial  and  mercantile  interests  were  most  in 
evidence.  In  Virginia,  the  old-time  social  and  eco 
nomic  antagonism  between  east  and  west,  between  the 
planters  and  merchants  of  the  tidewater  and  the  small 
farmers  of  the  interior,  reappeared.  Much  the  same 
alignment  is  found  in  the  Carolinas.  Beyond  the 
Alleghanies,  the  people  of  the  Kentucky  and  Tennes 
see  districts  were  strongly  opposed  to  the  Constitution. 

Detailed  studies  of  the  geographical  distribution 
of  votes  in  the  state  conventions,  and  recent  investi 
gations  in  the  archives  of  the  Treasury  Department, 
sustain  the  conclusion  to  which  the  historian  is 


MAKING  THE  CONSTITUTION         41 

driven  by  the  testimony  of  contemporaries,  that  the 
fundamental  opposition  between  the  advocates  and 
opponents  of  the  Constitution  was  based  on  distinc 
tions  of  wealth.  On  his  first  view  of  the  Constitu 
tion  young  John  Quincy  Adams  wrote  in  his  diary : 
"  It  is  calculated  to  increase  the  influence,  and  power, 
and  wealth  of  those  who  have  any  already."  A  writer 
in  the  Boston  Gazette  declared  that  the  supporters 
of  the  Constitution  consisted  generally  of  the  noble 
Order  of  Cincinnatus,  holders  of  public  securities, 
bankers,  and  lawyers :  "  these  with  their  train  of 
dependents  form  the  Aristocratick  combination." 
Over  against  this  should  be  put  the  remark  of  Alex 
ander  Hamilton :  that  the  new  Constitution  encoun 
tered  the  "  opposition  of  all  men  much  in  debt,  who 
will  not  wish  to  see  a  government  established,  one 
object  of  which  is  to  restrain  the  means  of  cheating 
creditors."  According  to  John  Adams,  the  Consti 
tution  was  "  the  work  of  the  commercial  people  in 
the  sea-port  towns,  of  the  planters  of  the  slave-hold 
ing  states,  of  the  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  army, 
and  the  property-holders  everywhere." 

From  November  to  the  following  July  the  cam 
paign  continued.  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  and  Georgia 
ratified  the  Constitution  unanimously ;  Connecticut 
by  a  majority  of  three  to  one  ;  and  Pennsylvania,  by 
a  majority  of  two  to  one.  But  there  is  reason  to  be 
lieve  that  these  majorities  in  the  ratifying  conven 
tions  did  not  reflect  public  opinion  accurately.  Mas 
sachusetts,  Maryland,  and  South  Carolina  followed 
hesitatingly,  each  proposing  amendments  to  the  Con 
stitution.  Toward  the  end  of  June  the  ninth  State, 


42  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

New  Hampshire,  threw  in  her  lot  with  the  majority ; 
and  on  the  heels  of  this  news  came  the  intelligence 
that  the  Old  Dominion  had  also  ratified.  The  Con 
stitution  was  now  the  law  of  the  land.  In  the  stanch 
Federal  city  of  Philadelphia,  the  Fourth  of  July  was 
celebrated  with  great  rejoicing,  for  in  the  parlance 


Distribution  of  Votes 
in  Ratification  of  the  Constitution 

The  Southern  States,  1787-1790 

on  the  map  by  Dr.  O.CL  LibbyW 


CDCntettltd  area  or  not  Toting 


of  the  time  the  sloop  Anarchy  was  ashore  on  Union 
Rock,  the  old  scow  Confederation  had  put  to  sea, 
and  the  good  ship  Federal  Constitution  had  come 
into  port  bringing  a  cargo  of  Public  Credit  and 
Prosperity. 

But  until  New  York  ratified  the  Constitution  this 
rejoicing  was  premature.  Geographically  New  York 
was  a  pivotal  State.  A  union  without  this  member 
was  not  worthy  of  the  name.  The  task  of  the  Fed- 


MAKING  THE  CONSTITUTION         43 

eralists  was  here  most  difficult  Fully  two  thirds  of 
the  convention  were  at  first  opposed  to  the  Consti 
tution.  The  leadership  of  the  Federalists  fell  to 
Hamilton.  Together  with  James  Madison  and  John 
Jay,  he  contributed  to  the  newspapers  a  series  of 
essays  in  advocacy  of  the  Constitution,  which,  under 
the  title  The  Federalist,  have  become  a  classic  in 
our  political  literature.  Just  how  the  Federalists 
succeeded  in  overcoming  a  hostile  majority  and  in 
securing  a  ratification  of  the  Constitution  by  a  vote 
of  thirty  to  twenty-seven,  remains  a  mystery  to  this 

day- 
Half  a  century  later  it  became  the  habit  of  states 
men  of  the  nationalist  school  to  speak  of  the  Consti 
tution  as  the  work  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
John  Marshall  declared  the  Constitution  to  be  "  an 
expression  of  the  clear  and  deliberate  will  of  the  whole 
people."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  direct  popular  vote 
was  taken  at  any  stage  in  its  evolution.  The  dele 
gates  to  the  Philadelphia  Convention  were  chosen  by 
the  state  legislatures ;  their  work  was  ratified  by  con 
ventions  of  delegates  in  the  several  States ;  and  these 
delegates  were  chosen  in  every  State  but  one  on  a 
carefully  limited  suffrage.  New  York  alone  pro 
vided  that  delegates  to  the  convention  should  be 
elected  on  the  basis  of  manhood  suffrage.  Elsewhere 
property  qualifications  were  imposed  which  disfran 
chised  probably  about  one  third  of  the  adult  male 
population.  In  all  the  States  a  considerable  propor 
tion  of  the  voters  abstained  from  voting.  In  Boston, 
where  twenty-seven  hundred  were  qualified  to  vote, 
only  seven  hundred  and  sixty  took  the  trouble  to 


44  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

vote  for  delegates  to  the  state  convention.  A  recent 
writer  hazards  the  guess  that  "not  more  than  one 
fourth  or  one  fifth  of  the  adult  white  males  took  part 
in  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  state  conventions." 
If  this  be  true,  the  Constitution  expressed  something 
less  than  the  will  of  the  whole  people  and  perhaps 
not  even  of  a  majority.  The  making  of  the  Constitu 
tion  was  clearly  the  work  of  a  party  rather  than  of 
the  whole  people.  In  the  ranks  of  the  Federalist 
party  were  the  wealth  and  intelligence  which  made 
possible  concerted  and  rapid  action.  The  leadership 
fell  naturally  to  those  who  had  been  accustomed  to 
public  life.  From  this  point  of  view,  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution  was  the  triumph  of  a  "  natural  aris 
tocracy." 

Meantime,  Congress  nearing  its  end  made  testa 
mentary  provision  for  its  heir.  After  much  wrangling 
and  vacillation,  it  fixed  upon  New  York  as  the  seat 
of  the  new  Government  and  summoned  the  States  to 
choose  presidential  electors,  Senators,  and  Represen 
tatives.  The  new  national  legislature  was  to  assemble 
on  the  first  Wednesday  in  March,  which  fell  upon  the 
4th.  To  this  summons,  two  States  turned  a  deaf  ear. 
Not  having  ratified  the  new  Constitution,  North 
Carolina  and  Rhode  Island  were  strangely  circum 
stanced.  Of  all  the  States  which  had  entered  into 
the  "firm  league  of  friendship,"  they  alone  remained 
loyal  —  loyal,  but  discredited. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

Full  accounts  of  the  work  of  the  Federal  Convention  may  be 
found  in  the  histories  of  Bancroft  and  Curtis;  briefer  accounts,  in 


MAKING  THE  CONSTITUTION         45 

the  volumes  already  cited,  by  McMaster,  Fiske,  McLaughlin, 
and  Charming.  A  succinct  narrative  is  given  by  Max  Farrand, 
The  Framing  of  the  Constitution  (1913).  A  suggestive  volume, 
treating  of  the  Constitution  as  the  resultant  of  conflicting  eco 
nomic  interests,  is  C.  A.  Beard's  An  Economic  Interpretation  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  (1913).  Among  the  special  studies 
of  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution  may  be  mentioned,  O.  G. 
Libby,  The  Geographical  Distribution  of  the  Vote  of  the  Thirteen 
States  on  the  Federal  Constitution,  1787-1788  (1888);  McMaster 
and  Stone,  Pennsylvania  and  the  Federal  Constitution,  1787-1788 
(1888);  S.  B.  Harding,  The  Contest  over  the  Ratification  of  the  Fed 
eral  Constitution  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  (1896) ;  and  F.  G. 
Bates,  Rhode  Island  and  the  Formation  of  the  Union  (1898).  The 
most  illuminating  notes  of  the  debates  in  the  Convention  were 
those  taken  by  James  Madison,  which  are  printed  in  the  Records 
of  the  Federal  Convention  (3  vols.,  edited  by  Farrand,  1911).  The 
most  valuable  commentary  on  the  Constitution  is  still  The  Feder 
alist,  written  by  Madison,  Hamilton,  and  Jay. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE    RESTORATION    OF   PUBLIC    CREDIT 

"  THE  people  have  been  ripened  by  misfortune 
for  the  reception  of  a  good  government,"  Washing 
ton  wrote  to  Jefferson,  in  the  midsummer  of  1788. 
"  They  are  emerging  from  the  gulf  of  dissipation 
and  debt  into  which  they  had  precipitated  them 
selves  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Economy  and  indus 
try  are  evidently  gaining  ground."  There  is,  indeed, 
abundant  evidence  that  thrift  and  enterprise  were 
steadily  banishing  hard  times.  The  task  of  estab 
lishing  the  new  government  was  made  incompara 
bly  easier  by  the  confidence  inspired  by  returning 
prosperity. 

Already  West  India  commerce  had  resumed  very 
nearly  its  old  volume.  Both  France  and  Spain  had 
made  concessions  to  vessels  which  came  to  the  island 
ports  laden  with  American  produce.  The  Dutch 
and  the  Danish  islands  had  always  been  kept  open 
to  American  trade ;  and  evidence  is  not  wanting 
that  the  needs  of  British  West  India  planters  were 
stronger  than  their  respect  for  orders  in  council. 
At  all  events,  by  hook  or  crook,  American  farm 
products  and  lumber  found  their  way  to  British 
planters  as  well  as  to  their  French  competitors.  But 
something  more  than  the  resumption  of  the  West 
India  traffic  was  needed  to  restore  prosperity.  Ne- 


RESTORATION  OF  PUBLIC   CREDIT    47 

cessity  drove  American  sea  captains  to  longer  voy 
ages  and  larger  ventures.  American  vessels  found 
their  way  in  increasing  numbers  through  the  Baltic 
to  Russia,  and  around  Cape  Horn  to  the  Pacific 
ports,  to  China,  and  to  the  East  Indies.  One  of  the 
pioneers  of  this  traffic  to  the  Far  East  was  Captain 
Robert  Gray,  of  Boston,  who,  in  his  ship,  the  Colum 
bia,  doubled  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  completed 
the  first  American  voyage  around  the  world. 

While  hardy  seamen  were  seeking  new  markets, 
American  ingenuity  was  trying  to  reproduce  the 
machinery  which  was  coming  into  use  in  England 
for  the  manufacture  of  textiles.  In  the  year  1789, 
Pennsylvania  was  manufacturing  cotton  cloths,  hats, 
and  "  all  articles  in  leather,"  while  Massachusetts 
was  making  cordage,  duck,  and  glass.  "  The  num 
ber  of  shoes  made  in  one  town,  and  nails  in  another, 
is  incredible,"  wrote  Washington.  When  Hamilton 
made  his  famous  report  on  manufactures  two  years 
later,  he  described  some  seventeen  industries  which 
had  already  attained  considerable  proficiency,  though 
nearly  all  of  these  were  carried  on  in  the  household. 

The  dawn  of  the  4th  of  March  was  saluted  by  the 
guns  at  the  Battery  in  New  York  and  by  the  ring 
ing  of  church  bells.  This  day  was  to  witness  the 
inauguration  of  the  new  Government.  Delusive  ex 
pectation  !  The  dilatory  habits  of  a  decade  were  not 
so  readily  unlearned.  To  the  amusement  of  ill- 
wishers,  barely  a  score  of  Congressmen  appeared  in 
the  city ;  and  the  carpenters  were  still  at  work 
remodeling  the  old  City  Hall  into  a  fitting  habita 
tion  for  the  new  Federal  Congress.  It  was  not  until 


48  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

the  30th  that  enough  Representatives  were  in  attend 
ance  to  make  up  a  quorum  and  to  permit  the  House 
to  organize.  Another  week  passed  before  the  Senate 
could  organize. 

On  the  6th  of  April,  the  Senate  summoned  the 
House  to  attend  the  counting  of  the  electoral  votes. 
It  then  appeared  that  George  Washington  had  re 
ceived  the  highest  number  (69)  and  John  Adams 
the  next  highest  (34).  This  happy  result  had  not 
been  achieved  without  some  concerted  action  among 
the  Federalist  leaders.  The  great  personal  influence 
of  Washington  was  needed,  indeed,  to  give  dignity 
to  the  new  office.  While  messengers  were  hastening 
to  inform  Washington  and  Adams  of  their  election, 
the  members  of  Congress  had  ample  opportunities 
to  look  each  other  over.  If  they  were  not  well 
known  to  each  other,  they  were  at  least  conspicuous 
in  their  respective  communities.  Nearly  every  man 
had  held  public  office  under  his  State  Government 
and  a  large  proportion  had  sat  in  the  state  conven 
tions  which  had  ratified  the  Constitution.  Over  two 
thirds  of  the  Representatives  counted  themselves 
Federalist,  or  at  least  friends  of  the  new  Constitu 
tion. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  the  Senate  and  House  in 
joint  session  received  the  President-elect.  With  sim 
ple  ceremonies  as  befitted  the  occasion,  the  inau 
guration  of  our  first  President  was  consummated. 
Stepping  from  the  Senate  chamber  upon  the  bal 
cony,  Washington  looked  out  upon  the  crowds  which 
thronged  Wall  Street.  The  Chancellor  of  New  York 
administered  the  oath,  the  populace  shouted,  "  Long 


Distribution  of  Population 
1790 


(Indian  Tribes  beyond  the  settled  area) 

SCALE  OF  MILES 

4 


100       200        300       400 

I          I  Under  2  inhabitants 

to  sq.  mile 
From  2  to  6 
m  6  to  18 
From  18  to  45 
From  45  to  90 
Over  90 


5°      -Longitud.  West         from   Orwmwich       77° 


50  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

live  George  Washington,  President  of  the  United 
States  !  "  and  then  the  President  withdrew  to  deliver 
his  inaugural  address. 

When  the  minutes  of  the  Senate  were  read  next 
day  an  incident  occurred,  which,  trivial  as  it  seems, 
was  indicative  of  a  spirit  that  may  be  truly  charac 
terized  as  American.  The  President's  address  was 
referred  to  as  "His  most  gracious  Speech."  In  a 
moment  the  doughty  Maclay,  of  Pennsylvania, 
sprang  to  his  feet  with  a  vigorous  protest.  These  were 
words  which  savored  of  kingly  authority  and  which 
were  odious  to  the  people.  He  moved  that  they  be 
struck  out.  Vice-President  John  Adams  remonstrated 
mildly :  he  saw  no  objection  to  borrowing  the  prac 
tices  of  a  government  under  which  we  had  lived  so 
long  and  happily.  Senator  Maclay  was  on  his  feet  at 
once  with  the  declaration  that  the  sentiments  of  the 
people  had  undergone  a  change  adverse  to  royal  gov 
ernment.  Such  a  phrase  on  the  minutes  of  the  Sen 
ate  would  immediately  be  represented  as  "  the  first 
rung  of  the  ladder  in  the  ascent  to  royalty."  Maclay 
had  his  way  and  the  offensive  phrase  was  erased. 
Much  the  same  republican  spirit  appeared  in  the 
debate  on  titles.  The  Senate  would  have  preferred  to 
address  the  President  as  "  His  Highness,  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  and  Protector  of  their 
Liberties "  ;  but  the  House  insisted  on  having  the 
plain  title,  "  President  of  the  United  States." 

Even  before  the  inauguration,  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  had  entered  upon  its  first  tariff  debate,  for 
an  immediate  revenue  was  needed  if  the  wheels  of 
government  were  to  move.  Madison  was  ready  with  a 


RESTORATION  OF  PUBLIC   CREDIT    51 

scheme  of  customs  duties  patterned  very  largely  after 
the  ill-fated  project  of  1783.  On  all  sides  it  was 
agreed  that  taxes  should  be  external  rather  than  in 
ternal,  upon  foreign  rather  than  domestic  commerce. 
Madison  advocated  duties  upon  "  articles  of  requisi 
tion  likely  to  occasion  the  least  difficulty,"  such  as 
spirituous  liquors,  molasses,  wines,  tea,  coffee,  cocoa, 
pepper,  and  sugar.  But  almost  at  once  the  idea  was 
broached  that  indirect  aid  should  be  given  to  certain 
industries.  The  clash  of  opposing  sectional  interests 
appears  even  in  this  first  debate.  In  the  end  Madi 
son's  simple  revenue  measure  was  set  aside.  Specific 
duties  were  levied  on  more  than  thirty  articles,  and 
ad  valorem  duties  ranging  from  five  to  fifteen  per 
cent  on  all  others.  Revenue  was  still  the  main  object, 
but  protective  duties  were  deliberately  grafted  upon 
the  bill.  Tonnage  dues  were  fixed  in  a  separate  act, 
while  still  another  act  laid  the  foundations  of  our 
national  fiscal  administration.  In  every  State,  side 
by  side  with  local  officials,  yet  independent  of  state 
control,  there  were  to  be  collectors,  surveyors  of 
ports,  inspectors,  weighers,  gangers,  measurers,  — 
in  short,  so  many  living  witnesses  to  the  existence  of 
a  self-sufficient  central  government. 

When  Congress  addressed  itself  to  the  work  of 
establishing  the  executive  departments,  questions  of 
constitutional  interpretation  thrust  themselves  into 
the  foreground.  Experience  under  the  Confederation 
proved  the  need  of  at  least  the  three  departments  of 
foreign  affairs,  war,  and  treasury.  Bills  to  establish 
these  departments  were  at  once  framed  and  favor 
ably  considered,  but  exception  was  taken  to  the  pro- 


52  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

visions  making  the  heads  of  these  departments,  who 
were  appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate,  remov 
able  by  the  President  alone.  It  was  finally  agreed  to 
assume  that  the  President  had  the  power  to  remove 
from  office.  The  act  was  therefore  made  to  read, 
"  Whenever  said  principal  officer  shall  be  removed 
by  the  President."  In  this  wise,  by  legislative  con 
struction,  the  Constitution  was  expanded  at  many 
points  in  the  early  years  of  the  new  Government. 

The  bill  to  establish  the  Treasury  Department 
was  drawn  in  accordance  with  the  ideas  of  Hamil 
ton,  for  it  was  expected  that  he  would  be  the  first 
incumbent  of  the  office.  It  may  have  been  his  well- 
known  partiality  for  British  institutions  that  caused 
the  House  to  mistrust  the  phrase  which  made  it  the 
duty  of  the  Secretary  "  to  digest  and  report  plans 
for  the  improvement  and  management  of  the  revenue, 
and  the  support  of  the  public  credit."  "  If  we  au 
thorize  him  to  prepare  and  report  plans,"  argued 
Tucker,  of  Virginia,  voicing  that  fear  of  executive 
authority  which  was  then  instinctive,  "  it  will  create 
an  interference  of  the  executive  with  the  legislative 
powers ;  it  will  abridge  the  particular  privilege  of 
this  House.  .  .  .  How  can  business  originate  in  this 
House,  if  we  have  it  reported  to  us  by  the  Minister 
of  Finance  ?  "  The  House  was  not  minded  to  make 
Alexander  Hamilton  a  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer. 
The  bill  was  amended  to  read,  "  digest  and  prepare." 
Subsequently  the  House  showed  unmistakably  its 
determination  to  assume  direction  of  the  national 
revenues  and  expenditures. 

One  of  the  first  concerns  of  Congress  was  to  give 


RESTORATION  OF  PUBLIC   CREDIT    53 

substance  to  the  colorless  statement  of  the  Constitu 
tion  that  there  should  be  one  supreme  court  and 
such  inferior  courts  as  Congress  should  ordain  and 
establish.  On  the  day  following  its  organization, 
while  the  House  was  grappling  with  the  question  of 
revenue,  the  Senate  appointed  a  committee  to  bring 
in  a  bill  to  establish  the  federal  courts.  The  chair 
man  of  this  committee  was  Oliver  Ellsworth,  of 
Connecticut,  who  had  sat  on  the  bench  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals  under  the  Confederation  and  who  had 
been  an  influential  member  of  the  Federal  Conven 
tion.  The  bill  reported  by  the  committee  was  sub 
stantially  his  work.  It  provided  for  a  supreme  court 
bench  of  six  judges  — a  chief  justice  and  five  asso 
ciates  ;  for  thirteen  district  courts,  each  with  a  single 
judge ;  and  for  three  circuit  courts,  each  of  which 
was  to  consist  of  two  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court 
arid  a  district  judge.  Lengthy  provisions  in  the  act 
carefully  delimited  the  jurisdiction  of  these  courts, 
and  laid  down  the  modes  of  procedure  and  practice 
in  them.  Of  great  importance  was  the  twenty-fifth 
section,  which  provided  for  taking  cases  on  appeal 
to  the  Supreme  Court  from  the  lower  federal  and 
state  courts.  The  words  of  the  act,  by  a  fair  impli 
cation,  would  seem  to  confer  upon  the  Supreme 
Court  the  power  to  review  the  decision  of  a  state 
court  holding  an  act  of  the  United  States  uncon 
stitutional.  It  would  seem  to  follow  logically  that 
the  Supreme  Court  might  do  also  directly  what  it 
might  do  indirectly  —  declare  an  act  of  Congress 
void  by  reason  of  its  repugnance  to  the  Constitu 
tion.  Ellsworth,  at  least,  held  that  in  the  discharge 


54  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

of  their  ordinary  duties,  the  judges  of  the  federal 
courts  would  have  the  right  to  pronounce  acts  of 
Congress  void  when  they  stood  in  conflict  with  the 
Constitution.  Attempts  were  made,  in  the  course  of 
the  debate  on  the  Judiciary  Act,  to  strip  the  federal 
courts  of  all  jurisdiction  except  in  admiralty  and 
maritime  cases.  Many  members  of  Congress  agreed 
with  Maclay  in  thinking  that  the  Judiciary  Act  was 
calculated  to  draw  all  law  business  into  the  federal 
courts.  "  The  Constitution  is  meant  to  swallow  all 
the  state  constitutions,  by  degrees,"  averred  the 
worthy  Senator  from  Pennsylvania  ;  "  and  this  [bill] 
to  swallow,  by  degrees,  all  the  state  judiciaries. " 

The  wisdom  of  the  new  President  appeared  in  his 
appointments  to  office.  Concerned  solely  with  the 
fate  of  the  federal  experiment,  he  sought  consistently 
the  support  of  those  who  would  add  weight  to  the 
new  Government,  and  who  were  Federalists  in  poli 
tics.  Not  only  personal  fitness  but  sectional  interests 
had  to  be  taken  into  consideration.  Washington  was 
solicitous  to  draw  "  the  first  characters  of  the  union  " 
into  the  judiciary,  particularly  those  who  had  served 
in  the  state  courts  and  commanded  public  confidence. 
His  choice  for  Chief  Justice  fell  upon  John  Jay. 
Kutledge,  of  South  Carolina,  Wilson,  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  Cushing,  of  Massachusetts,  Harrison,  of  Mary 
land,  and  Blair,  of  Virginia,  were  first  named  as 
Associate  Justices.  Washington  chose  his  chief  ad 
visers  also  from  different  sections.  Thomas  Jefferson 
was  invited  to  become  Secretary  of  State  —  a  post 
which  he  accepted  somewhat  reluctantly.  Hamilton 
did  not  have  to  be  urged  to  take  the  headship  of  the 


RESTORATION  OF  PUBLIC   CREDIT    55 

Treasury.  Knox  was  given  the  superintendence  of 
a  military  establishment  which  then  numbered  only 
a  few  hundred  men.  Edmund  Randolph  was  ap 
pointed  Attorney-General. 

Before  Congress  adjourned  in  the  fall,  it  adopted 
and  sent  to  the  States  for  ratification  twelve  amend 
ments  to  the  new  Constitution.  There  were  those 
who  thought  this  action  precipitate.  Why  tinker 
with  a  constitution  which  had  hardly  been  tried? 
To  all  such  Madison  replied  cogently  that  the  amend 
ments  which  his  committee  reported  did  not  alter 
the  framework  of  the  instrument,  but  added  only 
certain  safeguards  to  individual  rights.  The  lack  of 
a  declaration  of  rights  had  been  deplored  in  every 
convention  and  had  cost  the  support  of  many  re 
spectable  people.  Moreover,  two  communities  had 
not  yet  "  thrown  themselves  into  the  bosom  of  the 
Confederacy."  The  wisdom  of  this  course  was  at 
tested  by  the  prompt  ratification  of  ten  of  the  twelve 
proposed  amendments. 

On  November  21,  1789,  North  Carolina  ratified 
the  Constitution,  leaving  Rhode  Island  to  a  position 
of  hazardous  isolation.  Congress  was  considering  a 
bill  to  cut  off  the  commercial  privileges  of  the  State, 
by  putting  her  on  the  footing  of  a  foreign  nation, 
when  news  came  that  a  convention  at  Newport  had 
ratified  the  Constitution  by  the  narrow  margin  of 
two  votes.  In  the  following  year  the  number  of 
States  was  increased  by  the  admission  of  Vermont. 
The  admission  of  Kentucky  followed  in  1792  ;  and 
Congress  paved  the  way  for  the  entrance  of  other 
States  into  the  Union  by  organizing  the  Southwest 


56  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Territory  out  of  Western  lands  ceded  by  the  three 
southernmost  States.  The  expansion  of  the  United 
States  had  begun,  bringing  with  it  unforeseen  prob 
lems. 

The  severest  labors  of  Congress  began  in  the  sec 
ond  session,  when  the  new  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
presented  his  first  report  on  public  credit.  Shortly 
after  the  Convention  of  1787,  Hamilton  had  ex 
pressed  his  belief  that  one  of  the  great  dangers  which 
threatened  American  society  was  "the  depredations 
which  the  democratic  spirit  is  apt  to  make  on  prop 
erty."  Distrusting  the  political  capacity  of  the  peo 
ple,  whom  in  private  he  called  "  a  great  beast,"  he 
believed  that  the  new  Government  would  succeed  or 
fail  in  just  the  proportion  that  it  enlisted  the  sup 
port  of  the  influential  and  wealthy  classes.  He  set 
himself  deliberately  to  the  task  of  identifying  the 
interests  of  the  propertied  classes  with  those  of  the 
Government. 

It  was  a  sorry  state  in  which  Hamilton  found  the 
national  finances.  The  foreign  debt,  including  prin 
cipal  and  arrears  of  interest,  amounted  to  $11,- 
710,000.  The  domestic  debt,  much  more  difficult  to 
determine,  was  not  less  than  142,414,000,  about  one 
third  of  which  was  made  up  of  arrears  of  interest. 
The  debts  of  the  individual  States,  principal  and  in 
terest,  were  estimated  at  about  $25,000,000.  These 
were  heavy  burdens  for  the  shoulders  of  a  young 
Government  whose  fiscal  powers  were  as  yet  untested. 
But  the  shoulders  had  to  be  fitted  to  the  burden, 
if  public  credit  was  to  be  restored. 

In  this  first  report  on  public  credit,  January  9, 


RESTORATION  OF  PUBLIC   CREDIT    57 

1790,  Hamilton  analyzed  the  financial  situation  with 
masterly  clearness  and  set  forth  his  plans  for  the 
adjustment  of  the  national  debt.  The  determination 
of  Congress  to  make  adequate  provision  for  the  sup 
port  of  the  public  credit  was  justified  in  his  mind 
by  every  consideration.  A  country  like  the  United 
States,  possessed  of  little  active  wealth,  must  borrow 
in  emergencies;  to  borrow  on  good  terms,  it  must 
establish  its  credit;  and  to  maintain  its  credit,  it 
must  faithfully  observe  its  contracts.  But  over  and 
above  these  considerations,  dictated  by  expediency, 
were  "immutable  principles  of  moral  obligation." 
Moreover,  the  national  debt  was  no  ordinary  obliga 
tion:  it  was  "the  price  of  liberty."  On  all  sides,  it 
was  agreed  that  the  debt  contracted  abroad  should 
be  provided  for  in  the  precise  terms  of  the  contracts. 

It  was  only  in  regard  to  the  domestic  debt  that 
differences  of  opinion  were  likely  to  arise.  The  notes 
representing  this  debt  were  of  all  sorts  and  kinds. 
Much  of  it  had  changed  hands  and  all  of  it  had  de 
preciated  in  value.  Some  of  it  still  circulated  as  a 
monetary  medium.  The  vital  question  was  :  how  were 
the  present  holders  to  be  paid  ?  At  the  face  value 
of  the  paper,  or  at  the  price  for  which  it  had  been 
purchased?  Hamilton  argued  firmly  against  any 
discrimination,  both  because  it  was  a  breach  of  con 
tract  and  because  it  was  a  violation  of  the  rights  of 
a  fair  buyer. 

When  this  part  of  Hamilton's  plan  came  before 
Congress  in  concrete  form,  it  gave  rise  to  the  bitter 
est  debate  which  had  been  heard.  That  it  would  give 
opportunity  for  immoderate  speculation  was  plain 


58  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

enough  ;  yet  every  alternative  which  aimed  to  do  jus 
tice  by  both  the  original  and  the  present  holder  was 
confessedly  inadequate,  when  a  certificate  of  indebt 
edness,  for  example,  had  passed  through  several  hands 
without  record. 

No  sooner  was  Hamilton's  proposal  made  than  a 
wild  scramble  began  for  the  possession  of  the  hith 
erto  worthless  government  paper.  "  Couriers  and  re 
lay  horses  by  land,  and  swift  sailing  pilot  boats  by 
sea,  were  flying  in  all  directions,"  wrote  Jefferson. 
"  Active  partners  and  agents  were  associated  and 
employed  in  every  state,  town,  and  country  neighbor 
hood,  and  this  paper  was  bought  up  at  5/  and  even 
as  low  as  2/  in  the  pound,  before  the  holder  knew 
Congress  had  already  provided  for  its  redemption  at 
par.  Immense  fortunes  were  thus  filched  from  the 
poor  and  ignorant,  and  fortunes  accumulated  by  those 
who  had  themselves  been  poor  enough  before." 

The  second  part  of  the  scheme  outlined  in  Hamil 
ton's  first  report  aroused  even  more  bitter  opposition. 
With  a  fine  audacity  he  proposed  the  assumption  of 
state  debts.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  Hamilton 
was  perfectly  ingenuous  in  stating  his  reasons  for 
this  move.  He  apprehended,  he  said,  that  the  States 
would  be  hampered  in  satisfying  their  creditors  be 
cause  they  had  surrendered  one  important  source  of 
revenue  to  the  central  Government,  duties  on  im 
ports.  In  resorting  to  other  means,  the  States  might 
pass  conflicting  measures  which  would  oppose  indus 
try.  Besides,  the  debts  had  been  incurred  in  the 
cause  of  Union  and  should  be  borne  by  all.  But 
deeper  than  these  reasons  was  probably  a  political 


Vote  on  Assumption 
July  24,  1790 


For  assumption 
Against  assumption 


60  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

motive.  Hamilton  had  no  local  attachments.  A  thor 
oughgoing  nationalist,  he  saw  in  the  claims  of  the 
States  to  autonomy  only  so  many  obstacles  in  the 
path  of  national  unity.  uTo  cement  more  closely 
the  Union  of  States  "  by  creating  a  solidarity  of  finan 
cial  interests,  was,  indeed,  the  basal  principle  of  his 
fiscal  plans. 

The  wrath  of  Congressmen  from  States  like  Vir 
ginia,  which  had  already  discharged  most  of  their 
debts,  knew  no  bounds.  After  they  had  practiced 
thrift  and  met  their  obligations,  should  they,  for 
sooth,  now  aid  their  less  provident  sisters  ?  The  chief 
opponents  of  assumption  came  from  the  South,  and 
the  chief  advocates  from  the  North.  South  Carolina 
and  New  Hampshire  parted  company  with  their  neigh 
bors,  the  one  because  it  had  a  large  debt  and  the 
other  because  it  had  not.  Pennsylvania  was  divided 
on  this  question.  For  a  time  the  opposition  was  too 
strong  to  be  overcome.  On  May  25,  1790,  an  ad 
verse  vote  seemed  to  seal  the  fate  of  "  Miss  Assump 
tion,"  as  the  wits  of  the  day  called  this  measure. 
Just  at  this  juncture  the  question  of  the  location  of 
the  future  capital,  which  had  been  debated  incon 
clusively  during  the  first  session,  was  revived.  Here 
again  the  North  was  arrayed  against  the  South. 
Should  the  capital  be  located  on  the  Potomac,  as 
Maryland  and  the  Southern  States  wished,  or  some 
where  in  Pennsylvania  ?  New  York  was  now  out  of 
the  question,  and  since  Pennsylvania  would  not  sup 
port  assumption,  the  New  England  States  rather 
spitefully  opposed  the  claims  of  Philadelphia. 

Here  was  a  situation  which  called  for  the  finesse 


RESTORATION   OF   PUBLIC   CREDIT     61 

of  the  politician.  Might  not  votes  for  one  project  be 
traded  for  the  other?  Would  the  Virginia  represen 
tatives  abandon  their  opposition  to  assumption  for 
the  sake  of  locating  the  capital  on  the  banks  of  the  Po 
tomac?  It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Hamilton  sought 
out  Jefferson,  whose  influence  over  the  Congressmen 
from  Virginia  was  very  considerable,  and  laid  the 
project  before  him.  With  a  readiness  which  he  after 
ward  regretted,  Jefferson  fell  in  with  the  scheme,  and 
invited  Hamilton  and  certain  Virginia  Represen 
tatives  to  dine  at  his  table.  In  this  comfortable  fash 
ion,  over  their  wine,  these  gentlemen  reached  an  ami 
cable  agreement.  Such  is  Jefferson's  account,  but 
the  matter  could  not  have  been  quite  so  simple,  for 
other  Representatives  than  those  from  Virginia 
changed  their  votes  and  so  contributed  to  the  final 
settlement  of  the  controversy.  Nor  is  Jefferson  quite 
ingenuous  when  he  afterward  described  himself  as 
duped  by  Hamilton,  for  he  had  not  shown  himself 
averse  to  assumption  at  any  time.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
Congress  voted  to  assume  the  debts  of  the  States, 
and  to  remove  the  seat  of  government  from  Philadel 
phia  after  ten  years  to  a  district  ten  miles  square  on 
the  Potomac,  which  Washington  was  to  select. 

The  need  of  further  revenue  was  now  imperative. 
As  Hamilton  said  in  his  second  report  on  the  public 
credit,  the  duties  on  imported  articles  had  reached 
a  point  which  might  not  be  exceeded  "  without  con 
travening  the  sense  of  the  body  of  the  merchants." 
When  Congress  met  for  its  third  session  in  Decem 
ber,  1790,  Hamilton  boldly  urged  what  was  perhaps 
as  unpopular  a  tax  as  he  could  have  proposed  —  a 


62  UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

duty  on  distilled  spirits.  To  most  Americans  an  ex 
cise  was  not  only  an  internal  tax,  but  as  Jefferson 
said,  u  an  infernal  one."  It  was  bound  to  fall  with 
heavy  weight  upon  the  people  of  the  interior  who 
turned  much  of  their  corn  and  rye  into  whiskey,  for 
more  convenient  transportation  over  the  mountains 
to  Eastern  markets.  But  despite  strenuous  opposi 
tion  the  excise  was  voted.  It  was,  as  a  member  of 
Congress  expressed  it,  like  "  drinking  down  the  na 
tional  debt." 

In  this  same  report  of  December  13,  1790,  Ham 
ilton  advocated  the  establishment  of  a  national 
bank.  Such  an  institution,  he  believed,  would  in 
crease  the  amount  of  active  capital  in  the  country 
and  at  the  same  time  serve  the  Government  as  a 
fiscal  agent  in  obtaining  loans  and  in  collecting 
taxes.  Opposition  to  this  project  gathered  rapidly 
and  was  encouraged  by  the  Secretary  of  State.  The 
debates  in  Congress  touched  upon  the  monopolistic 
tendency  of  such  a  banking  institution  and  its  con 
stitutionality,  rather  than  upon  its  intrinsic  merits 
and  demerits.  The  bill  was  carried  by  substantial 
majorities  in  February,  1791,  and  sent  to  the  Presi 
dent  for  his  approval. 

Washington  was  so  beset  with  doubts  as  to  the 
constitutionality  of  the  bank  bill  that  he  asked  his 
secretaries  and  the  Attorney-General  to  express 
their  opinions.  Jefferson  argued  that  the  power  to 
incorporate  a  bank  was  not  given  by  the  Constitu 
tion  to  Congress,  for  it  was  not  among  the  enumer 
ated  powers  and  it  was  not  a  power  which  belonged 
to  any  of  the  enumerated  powers  as  indispensably 


RESTORATION  OF  PUBLIC   CREDIT    63 

necessary  to  their  exercise.  Hamilton  deprecated 
this  attempt  to  confine  the  general  Government 
either  to  powers  expressly  granted  or  to  powers  ab 
solutely  necessary  to  carry  out  the  enumerated  pow 
ers.  There  was  another  class,  he  contended,  which 
might  be  termed  "  resulting"  powers.  If  the  end  to  be 
gained  by  a  measure  was  comprehended  within  the 
specified  powers,  and  the  measure  was  obviously  a 
means  to  that  end  and  not  forbidden  by  the  Consti 
tution,  then  it  was  clearly  within  the  compass  of  the 
national  authority.  Washington  finally  yielded  to 
Hamilton's  persuasions,  and  signed  the  bill. 

The  charter  of  the  bank  fixed  the  capital  stock  at 
ten  million  dollars,  of  which  the  Government  was  to 
subscribe  one  fifth  ;  the  rest  was  open  to  public  sub 
scription.  Three  fourths  of  the  public  subscriptions 
might  be  paid  in  bonds  of  the  Government.  The 
notes  issued  by  the  bank  were  made  receivable  for 
all  payments  to  the  United  States.  The  bank  was 
to  be  the  repository  of  the  government  funds.  Its 
management  was  committed  to  a  board  of  twenty- 
five  directors  chosen  annually,  who  could  establish 
branch  banks  as  they  deemed  advisable.  The  charter 
was  to  run  for  twenty  years. 

The  stock  of  the  bank  was  not  only  subscribed  at 
once,  but  soon  sold  at  a  premium  which  invited  the 
wildest  sort  of  speculation  in  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  and  Boston.  Stock-jobbing  became  a  mania. 
"  The  coffee  house  is  in  an  eternal  buzz  with  the 
gamblers,"  Madison  wrote  from  the  seat  of  govern 
ment.  Sinister  aspects  of  this  speculative  craze  soon 
began  to  appear.  "Of  all  the  shameful  circum- 


64  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

stances  of  this  business,"  said  Madison,  "  it  is 
among  the  greatest  to  see  the  members  of  the  Legis 
lature  who  were  most  active  in  pushing  this  job 
openly  grasping  its  emoluments."  It  was  reported 
that  Sclmyler,  Hamilton's  father-in-law,  was  to  head 
the  board  of  directors. 

As  the  wide  reach  of  Hamilton's  financial  policy 
became  clear,  men  like  Madison,  whose  sympathies 
had  hitherto  been  enlisted  on  the  side  of  more  effi 
cient  government,  had  grave  misgivings.  When  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  intimated  in  his  report 
on  manufactures  that  Congress  might  promote  the 
general  welfare  \>y  appropriating  money  in  any  way 
it  chose,  Madison  definitely  parted  company  with 
his  former  collaborator,  holding  that  by  such  an  in 
terpretation  of  the  Constitution  "  the  Government 
is  no  longer  a  limited  one  possessing  enumerated 
powers,  but  an  indefinite  one,  subject  to  particular 
restrictions."  Jefferson  had  already  expressed  him 
self  in  a  similar  way  apropos  of  the  bank  bill.  The 
suspicions  which  the  Secretary  of  State  entertained 
of  his  brilliant  colleague  were  deep-seated.  Hamil 
ton's  well-known  preference  for  the  British  Constitu 
tion  and  his  disposition  to  convert  his  secretaryship 
into  a  sort  of  chief  ministerial  office  confirmed  Jef 
ferson's  distrust.  Had  he  and  Madison  been  alone 
in  their  suspicions,  their  misgivings  would  not  be 
worth  recording;  but  they  voiced  the  sentiments  of 
an  increasing  number  of  men  who  disliked  the  con 
solidating  tendencies  of  the  new  Government. 

Moreover,  the  aristocratic  tone  of  Washington  and 
his  entourage  gave  deep  offense.  Both  by  disposition 


RESTORATION  OF  PUBLIC   CREDIT    65 

and  by  calculation  the  President  cultivated  a  certain 
official  etiquette.  His  receptions  were  formal  to  the 
point  of  frigidity.  He  received  his  visitors  "  with  a 
dignified  bow,  while  his  hands  were  so  disposed  as 
to  indicate  that  the  salutation  was  not  to  be  accom 
panied  with  shaking  hands."  His  figure  clad  in  black 
velvet  was  most  impressive.  His  hair  was  powdered 
and  gathered  in  a  large  silk  bag.  His  hands  were 
dressed  in  yellow  gloves,  and  he  carried  a  cocked 
hat  adorned  with  a  black  feather,  while  at  his  side 
hung  a  sword  in  a  scabbard  of  white  polished  leather. 
To  ardent  republicans  these  trappings  were  so  many 
manifestations  of  monarchical  leanings.  Hamilton's 
suggestion  that  coins  should  bear  the  head  of  the 
President  under  whom  they  were  minted,  was  addi 
tional  evidence  to  suspicious  minds  that  the  group  of 
men  who  had  the  President's  ear  were  monarchists 
at  heart. 

Before  the  First  Congress  adjourned,  the  nucleus 
of  a  new  party  was  at  hand  and  its  fundamental  tenet 
roughly  foreshadowed :  namely,  opposition  to  the 
increase  of  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government 
through  the  use  of  implied  powers  and  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  State  Governments.  The  appearance  of 
the  first  number  of  the  National  Gazette  under  the 
editorship  of  Philip  Freneau  was  a  sign  that  the 
further  conduct  of  the  Administration  would  be  sub 
jected  to  searching  criticism.  Freneau  succeeded 
admirably  in  voicing  the  opinions  of  the  nascent  party. 
The  columns  of  the  National  Gazette  had  much  to 
say  about  "aristocratic  juntos,"  "ministerial  sys 
tems,"  and  "the  control  of  the  government  by  a 


66  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

wealthy  body  of  capitalists  and  public  creditors," 
whose  interests  were  in  opposition  to  those  of  the 
people.  When  Hamilton's  paper,  the  United  States 
Gazette,  attempted  to  stigmatize  the  opposition  as 
essentially  Anti-Federalist,  Freneau  replied  that  only 
those  men  were  true  friends  of  the  Union  who  adhered 
to  a  limited  and  republican  form  of  government  and 
who  were  ready  to  resist  the  efforts  which  had  been 
made  u  to  substitute,  in  the  room  of  our  equal  re 
public,  a  baneful  monarchy."  By  posing  as  the  only 
stanch  supporters  of  republicanism,  the  opposition 
secured  a  great  tactical  advantage.  To  call  one's  self 
emphatically  a  Republican  was  to  cast  aspersions 
upon  the  republicanism  of  one's  opponents. 

As  yet,  however,  there  existed  only  tendencies  to 
ward  parties  and  not  clearly  defined  political  groups. 
The  voting  in  the  early  sessions  of  Congress  was  far 
from  consistent.  The  members  gave  little  indication 
that  they  regarded  themselves  as  adherents  of  parties 
whose  fortunes  depended  on  preserving  an  unbroken 
alignment  for  or  against  the  Government.  How  lit 
tle  coherence  the  opposition  possessed  was  apparent 
when  Giles,  of  Virginia,  presented  a  resolution  cen 
suring  Hamilton  for  his  management  of  the  Treasury. 
Despite  the  unpopularity  of  Hamilton  and  the  general 
distrust  of  his  policy  in  Republican  circles,  the  oppo 
sition  could  muster  only  seven  votes  in  favor  of  the 
resolution,  in  the  closing  hours  of  the  Second  Con 
gress. 

The  presidential  election  of  1792,  therefore,  was 
not  properly  a  contest  between  parties.  When  Wash 
ington  consented  reluctantly  to  serve  a  second  term, 


RESTORATION   OF  PUBLIC   CREDIT    67 

his  unopposed  reelection  was  assured.  The  Republi 
cans  expressed  their  opposition  only  by  supporting 
for  Vice-President,  George  Clinton,  of  New  York, 
whose  Anti-Federalism  was  well  known,  instead  of 
John  Adams,  of  Massachusetts.  The  congressional 
elections  of  this  year  resulted  in  the  choice  of  men 
whose  leanings  were  rather  Republican  than  Fed 
eralist. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

Besides  the  works  of  Hildreth  and  of  McMaster,  there  are  sev 
eral  compendious  histories  which  treat  of  the  beginnings  of  the 
new  government.  Among  these  are  James  Schouler,  History  of  the 
United  States  under  the  Constitution  (7  vols.,  1880-1913),  and 
E.  M.  A  very,  History  of  the  United  States  and  its  People  from  their 
Earliest  Records  to  the  Present  Time  (7  vols.,  1904-  ).  The  events 
of  the  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams  are  narrated 
by  J.  S.  Bassett,  The  Federalist  System  (in  The  American  Nation, 
vol.  11,  1906).  Among  the  special  studies  of  importance  are  D.  R. 
Dewey,  Financial  History  of  the  United  States  (1903);  C.  R.  Fish, 
The  Civil  Service  and  the  Patronage  (1905);  H.  B.  Learned,  The 
President's  Cabinet  (1912);  and  W.  W.  Willoughby,  The  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  (1890).  There  are  many  biographies  of 
the  Federalist  leaders.  Among  the  best  are  W.  C.  Ford,  George 
Washington  (2  vols.,  1900);  W.  G.  Sumner,  Alexander  Hamilton 
(1890);  F.  S.  Oliver,  Alexander  Hamilton'  an  Essay  on  American 
Union  (1907);  J.  T.  Morse,  John  Adams  (1885);  W.  G.  Brown, 
Life  of  Oliver  Ellsworth  (1905).  Of  contemporary  writings  none 
will  give  a  more  intimate  view  of  politics  than  Senator  William 
Maclay's  Journal  (1890).  William  Sullivan,  Familiar  Letters  on 
Public  Characters  (1834),  gives  some  lively  sketches  of  notable 
figures,  but  he  writes  with  a  strong  Federalist  bias. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE    TESTING    OF    THE    NEW    GOVERNMENT 

THE  new  Government  fell  heir  to  all  the  unsettled 
diplomatic  problems  of  the  Confederation.  The  politi 
cal  destiny  of  the  thirteen  States  seemed  fixed  when 
they  ratified  the  Constitution ;  the  fate  of  the  West 
ern  communities  beyond  the  Alleghanies  still  hung 
in  the  balance.  In  Kentucky,  General  Wilkinson 
still  intrigued  in  behalf  of  Spain.  Sevier  and  Robert 
son,  in  Tennessee,  were  not  averse  to  separation  from 
the  Eastern  States  nor  to  a  Spanish  protectorate. 
From  New  Orleans,  Mobile,  St.  Marks,  and  Pensa- 
cola,  the  Spanish  authorities  supplied  the  Indians  of 
the  Southwest  with  arms  and  ammunition,  counting 
on  these  uncertain  allies  to  maintain  their  long  fron 
tier,  for  Spain  still  claimed  Florida  with  its  most 
northern  boundary  and  refused  to  accept  the  valid 
ity  of  the  British  cession  of  1783.  More  than  this  : 
Spain  was  disposed  to  claim  both  sides  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  at  least  as  far  north  as  the  Ohio. 

In  the  Northwest,  British  garrisons  still  held  Mi- 
chili  mackinac,  Detroit,  Niagara,  Oswego,  and  other 
posts.  The  policy  of  Great  Britain  was  dictated  by 
much  the  same  considerations  as  was  that  of  Spain. 
Lord  Dorchester,  Governor  of  Canada,  assured  the 
home  Government  that  "  the  flimsy  texture  of  re 
publican  government"  could  not  long  hold  the  West 
ern  settlements  in  the  Union.  In  1789,  the  Lords  of 


TESTING   THE    NEW   GOVERNMENT    69 

Trade  reported  that  it  was  a  matter  of  interest  for 
Great  Britain  "  to  prevent  Vermont  and  Kentucke, 
and  all  other  settlements  now  forming  in  the  Inte 
rior  parts  of  the  great  Continent  of  North  America, 
from  becoming  dependent  upon  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  or  of  any  other  Foreign  Country, 
and  to  preserve  them  on  the  contrary  in  a  State  of 
Independence  and  to  induce  them  to  form  Treaties 
of  Commerce  and  Friendship  with  Great  Britain." 

President  Washington  had  hardly  taken  the  oath 
of  office  when  a  war  cloud  appeared  on  the  western 
horizon.  Certain  British  vessels,  bound  for  Nootka 
Sound  to  establish  a  trading-post,  were  seized  by 
Spanish  authorities  in  a  way  which  provoked  bitter 
resentment.  In  the  early  months  of  1790,  war  seemed 
imminent.  The  situation  was  full  of  peril  for  the 
United  States,  for  war  would  inevitably  bring  about 
military  operations  directed  against  Florida  and 
Louisiana,  and  neither  party  was  likely  to  respect 
the  neutrality  of  the  United  States.  The  prospect 
of  a  conquest  of  the  Spanish  colonies  by  Great  Brit 
ain  alarmed  the  Administration.  "  Embraced  from 
the  St.  Croix  to  the  St.  Mary's  on  the  one  side  by 
their  possessions,  on  the  other  side  by  their  fleet,'* 
wrote  Jefferson,  "  we  need  not  hesitate  to  say  that 
they  would  soon  find  means  to  unite  to  them  all  the 
territory  covered  by  the  ramifications  of  the  Missis 
sippi."  Representations  were  therefore  made  to  the 
British  Government  that  "  a  due  balance  on  our  bor 
ders  is  not  less  desirable  to  us  than  a  balance  of 
power  in  Europe  has  always  appeared  to  them." 

Fortunately  the  war  cloud  vanished  as  rapidly  as 


70  UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

it  had  formed.  In  the  fall  of  1790,  Spain  and  Eng 
land  entered  into  a  convention  which  averted  hostili 
ties.  Yet  the  situation  on  both  flanks  of  our  long 
frontier  was  full  of  peril.  Spain  intrigued  with  the 
Creeks  of  the  Southwest,  while  the  British  authori 
ties  in  Canada  encouraged  the  Indians  north  of  the 
Ohio  in  their  hostility  to  the  white  settlers.  The 
attitude  of  the  Indians  along  the  Mauniee  and  Wa- 
bash  Rivers  was  so  menacing  that  Governor  St.  Clair 
sent  a  punitive  expedition  against  them;  but  the 
effect  upon  the  Indians  was  so  slight  that  a  second 
expedition  was  set  on  foot  in  the  following  year. 
With  a  force  of  fourteen  hundred  raw  recruits,  un 
used  to  Indian  warfare,  St.  Clair  marched  into  the 
heart  of  the  Indian  country  and  suffered  an  inglori 
ous  defeat,  on  November  4,  1791.  More  than  half 
of  his  command  were  killed,  and  scarcely  a  man  es 
caped  unscathed.  It  was  a  most  humiliating  reverse 
for  the  new  Government,  occurring  almost  under 
the  eyes  of  British  garrisons,  and  just  as  opposition 
was  coming  to  a  head  in  Congress. 

While  two  European  powers  were  thus  poised  like 
vultures  awaiting  the  demise  of  the  new  republic,  a 
third  darkened  the  sky.  France  deemed  the  moment 
auspicious  for  an  attack  upon  the  colonial  possessions 
of  her  late  ally,  the  King  of  Spain.  The  South  Amer 
ican  revolutionist,  Miranda,  had  persuaded  the  French 
Ministry,  as  he  had  before  persuaded  Pitt,  that  the 
Spanish  colonial  empire  was  tottering  and  would 
readily  fall  with  its  rich  spoil  at  the  first  resolute 
attack.  The  French  Ministers  were  dazzled  by  the 
prospect  of  reviving  a  colonial  empire  in  the  new 


*  TESTING   THE   NEW   GOVERNMENT    71 

world.  It  seemed  well  within  the  range  of  possibili 
ties  to  reduce  Louisiana,  and  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  to  begin  the  conquest  of  Spanish  Central 
and  Southern  America.  With  this  purpose  in  view, 


the  Government  sent  as  Minister  to  the  United 
States,  Citizen  Genet,  an  ardent  apostle  of  the  Rev 
olution.  He  was  instructed  to  secure  a  treaty  with 
the  United  States  —  "a  true  family  compact" 
which  "would  conduce  rapidly  to  freeing  Spanish 
America,  to  opening  the  navigation  of  the  Missis- 


72  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

sippi  to  the  inhabitants  of  Kentucky,  to  delivering 
our  ancient  brothers  of  Louisiana  from  the  tyran 
nical  yoke  of  Spain,  and  perhaps  to  uniting  the  fair 
star  of  Canada  to  the  American  constellation."  But 
without  waiting  for  the  cooperation  of  the  United 
States,  Genet  was  to  arouse  the  people  of  Kentucky 
and  Louisiana  by  sending  among  them  agents  who 
should  light  the  tires  of  revolution. 

The  first  news  of  the  revolution  in  France  had 
kindled  the  warmest  sympathy  in  the  United  States. 
Emotional  individuals  thought  they  saw  the  events 
of  our  own  revolution  mirrored  in  the  stirring  drama 
in  France.  The  spectacle  of  the  new  republic  con 
fronting  the  allied  monarchs  of  Europe  thrilled  those 
who  had  battled  with  the  hirelings  of  George  the 
Third.  Civic  feasts  became  the  fashion  ;  liberty  caps 
and  French  cockades  were  donned ;  "  the  social  and 
soul-warming  term  Citizen "  was  adopted  by  the 
more  demonstrative.  But  there  were  those  who  did 
not  sing  "  Ca  Ira  "  and  who  foresaw  the  peril  of  a 
general  European  war. 

Early  in  April,  1793,  a  British  packet  brought 
the  news  to  New  York  that  Louis  XVI  had  been 
guillotined  and  that  France  was  at  war  with  Eng 
land  and  Spain.  The  ominous  tidings  brought  Presi 
dent  Washington  post-haste  from  Mount  Vernon  to 
Philadelphia.  Summoning  his  advisers,  he  put  be 
fore  them  the  perplexing  questions  which  had  arisen 
in  his  mind.  Neutrality  was  obviously  the  policy 
which  national  self-interest  dictated ;  but  neutrality 
seemed  hardly  compatible  with  our  treaty  obliga 
tions  to  France.  In  the  treaties  of  1778,  the  United 


TESTING   THE   NEW   GOVERNMENT    73 

States  had  expressly  guaranteed  French  posses 
sions  in  America  and  had  opened  its  ports  to  French 
privateers  and  their  prizes,  denying  the  privilege 
to  her  enemies.  Hamilton  argued  rather  fallaciously 
that  these  treaties  were  made  by  the  King  of  France 
and  were  binding  upon  his  successors  alone;  they 
were  not  in  force  after  the  Revolutionary  Govern 
ment  had  destroyed  the  monarchy.  Furthermore,  the 
guaranty  did  not  apply  to  an  offensive  war  such  as 
that  which  France  was  now  waging.  Jefferson  and 
Randolph  took  issue  with  Hamilton  on  these  points  ; 
but  all  agreed  that  neutrality  must  be  preserved.  On 
April  22,  the  President  issued  a  proclamation,  which, 
avoiding  the  word  "  neutrality,"  declared  that  the 
United  States  was  at  peace  with  both  France  and 
Great  Britain,  and  warned  all  citizens  to  avoid  all 
acts  of  hostility. 

The  proclamation  was  well-timed,  for  Genet  had 
already  landed  at  Charleston  and  had  begun  his 
extraordinary  career  as  revolutionary  agent  of  the 
Gironde.  He  found  the  ground  well  watered  for  the 
seeds  of  revolution.  In  Georgia  and  South  Carolina, 
the  frontiersmen  were  smarting  under  the  repeated 
depredations  of  the  Cherokees  and  Creeks  and  eager 
to  put  an  end  to  Spanish  ascendancy  in  that  quarter. 
Under  these  circumstances  it  was  no  difficult  matter 
to  arrange  for  expeditions  against  St.  Augustine  from 
the  Georgia  frontier,  and  against  New  Orleans  from 
South  Carolina  by  way  of  the  Tennessee  River  and 
the  Mississippi.  Assuming  that  the  United  States 
was  already  enlisted  in  the  cause  by  the  treaties  of 
1778,  Genet  sent  out  orders  to  French  consuls,  bid- 


74  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

ding  them  set  up  courts  of  admiralty  for  the  trial 
of  prize  cases,  and  even  dispatched  privateers  from 
the  port  of  Charleston  to  prey  upon  British  vessels. 
Before  Genet  could  reach  Philadelphia,  the  French 
frigate  L' Ambuscade  had  captured  the  Little  Sarah 
in  lower  Delaware  Bay,  and  had  anchored  with  her 
prize  in  the  river  opposite  the  city. 

From  Charleston,  Genet  made  a  triumphal  prog 
ress  to  Philadelphia,  receiving  on  all  sides  demon 
strations  which  convinced  him  that  the  heart  of  the 
nation  beat  in  unison  with  that  of  France.  He  was 
therefore  much  disconcerted  and  angered  by  the 
studied  reserve  of  the  President,  to  whom  he  pre 
sented  bis  credentials  in  Philadelphia.  What  a  con 
trast  between  the  liberty-loving  populace  and  this 
haughty  aristocrat  who  kept  medallions  of  Capet  and 
his  family  upon  his  parlor  walls!  At  a  banquet  in 
Oeller's  Tavern,  however,  Genet  received  the  sort 
of  demonstrations  which  his  French  heart  craved. 
There,  amid  poetic  declamations  and  many  libations 
to  the  Goddess  of  Liberty,  he  and  his  hosts  donned 
the  crimson  cap  of  liberty  and  sang  with  infinite  zest 
the  new.  "  Marseillaise."  Even  a  well-balanced  mind 
might  have  become  convinced  that  the  Administra 
tion  and  the  people  were  out  of  accord. 

On  the  threshold  of  his  career  at  Philadelphia, 
Genet  demanded  an  advance  payment  on  the  debt 
which  the  United  States  owed  to  France.  The  refusal 
of  the  Administration  to  supply  him  with  funds  em 
bittered  him  still  further.  He  now  took  up  with  vigor 
his  revolutionary  projects  in  the  West.  The  proposal 
of  George  Rogers  Clark  to  raise  a  force  and  take  all 


TESTING  THE  NEW  GOVERNMENT    75 

Louisiana  for  France  reached  him  at  this  time  and 
fitted  in  well  with  his  general  mission.  Clark  was 
given  a  commission  as  "  Major  General  of  the  In 
dependent  and  Revolutionary  Legion  of  the  Missis 
sippi,"  and  was  promised  the  cooperation  of  frigates 
in  his  attack  upon  New  Orleans.  For  this  purpose 
Genet  made  haste  to  transform  the  Little  Sarah  into 
a  privateer,  under  the  very  eyes  of  the  Government. 
He  was  warned  that  he  must  not  allow  La  Petite  Dem- 
ocrate,  as  the  vessel  was  rechristened,  to  put  to  sea. 
Nevertheless,  in  defiance  of  the  state  and  federal  au 
thorities,  the  ship  dropped  down  the  bay  and  event 
ually  put  out  to  sea. 

Up  to  this  moment  Genet's  popularity  was  im 
mense.  Very  probably  this  popular  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  France  was  inspired  in  part  by  the  factious 
opposition  which  was  irritating  the  Administration 
on  purely  domestic  issues.  Nevertheless,  Liberty, 
Equality,  and  the  Rights  of  Man  were  phrases  which 
appealed  cogently  to  the  democratic  masses  in  the 
States.  In  imitation  of  the  Jacobin  Club,  Democratic 
societies  sprang  up  in  all  the  considerable  centers  of 
population  from  Boston  to  Charleston.  In  these  or 
ganizations  the  voice  of  the  disfranchised  classes  was 
articulate  for  the  first  time.  With  unprecedented 
virulence  these  Democrats  attacked  not  only  policies 
but  personalities.  Washington  was  libeled  in  such 
scurrilous  fashion  that  even  his  composure  broke 
down  on  one  occasion,  so  Jefferson  records ;  and  he 
declared  in  a  passion  that  by  God !  he  had  rather  be 
in  his  grave  than  in  his  present  situation. 

After  the  Little  Democrat  episode,  however,  popular 


76  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

sentiment  began  to  grow  cold  toward  G  enet.  His  plans 
failed  to  carry ;  and  he  was  reported  to  have  exclaimed 
in  a  moment  of  irritation  that  he  would  appeal  from 
the  President  to  the  people.  This  was  the  last  straw, 
All  but  his  most  radical  followers  deserted  him.  The 
Administration  now  determined  to  demand  his  re 
call.  But  events  in  France  had  already  terminated 
Genet's  career.  The  Girondist  party  had  fallen  and 
the  triumphant  Jacobins  had  no  use  for  an  agent 
who  had  served  the  discredited  faction.  In  February, 
1794,  Genet  was  replaced  by  Fauchet  and  his  revo 
lutionary  mission  ended  with  his  official  duties. 

From  the  moment  when  France  declared  war  upon 
Great  Britain  to  the  exile  of  Napoleon  two  decades 
later,  the  United  States  as  a  neutral  nation  was 
incessantly  menaced  by  the  aggressions  of  one  or 
the  other  of  the  belligerents.  A  faithful  picture  of 
American  politics  must  set  the  stirring  events 
of  this  epoch  against  the  forbidding  background  of 
European  intrigue  and  war.  In  this  struggle  the  su 
premacy  of  the  seas  fell  to  Great  Britain.  However 
victorious  on  European  battlefields,  French  armies 
were  powerless  to  defend  the  colonial  possessions  in 
the  West  Indies.  Cut  off  from  France  the  colonies 
could  only  maintain  themselves  by  direct  trade  with 
neutrals  like  the  United  States.  But  by  the  so-called 
rule  of  1756,  neutral  commerce  was  forbidden  under 
these  conditions.  Ports  closed  to  neutral  commerce 
in  time  of  peace  might  not  be  thrown  open  in  time 
of  war.  Flinging  consistency  to  the  winds,  the 
French  Convention  decreed  in  February,  1793,  that 
neutral  states  might  trade  with  her  colonies  on  the 


TESTING   THE   NEW   GOVERNMENT     77 

same  terms  as  French  vessels.  That  Great  Britain 
would  refuse  to  sanction  this  trade  was  fully  ex 
pected.  It  was  inevitable  that  Great  Britain  would 
treat  neutrals  who  accepted  the  French  invitation  as 
having  forfeited  their  neutrality. 

With  little  or  no  thought  of  probable  consequences, 
fleets  of  merchantmen  set  sail  from  Boston,  Phila 
delphia,  and  other  ports  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 
with  cargoes  of  fish  and  grain  to  barter  for  sugar> 
coft'ee,  and  rum  at  Martinique,  Antigua,  and  St. 
Kitts.  The  traffic  promised  to  be  most  lucrative. 
But  disaster  overtook  many  a  gallant  vessel  before 
she  could  reach  her  destination.  In  June,  British 
orders  in  council  instructed  English  cruisers  to  de 
tain  all  vessels  bound  for  a  French  port  with  corn, 
flour,  and  meal,  and  to  purchase  such  supplies  as 
were  needed.  Such  vessels  were  then  to  be  allowed 
to  proceed  to  any  port  of  a  state  with  which  His 
Majesty  was  living  in  amity.  The  skipper  who  had 
anything  worth  taking  to  a  foreign  port  after  an 
experience  of  this  sort  was  lucky  indeed.  In  No 
vember  orders  were  issued  for  the  seizure  of  all 
vessels  laden  with  French  colonial  products  or  car 
rying  provisions  to  any  French  colony. 

Tales  of  outrages  perpetrated  under  the  British 
orders  in  council  soon  began  to  reach  the  honi( 
ports  of  the  West  India  merchantmen.  Doubtless- 
these  tales  lost  nothing  in  the  telling,  but  the  unim 
peachable  fact  remains  that  scores  of  American  ships 
were  seized  and  libeled  in  admiralty  courts  set  up  in 
the  British  West  Indies.  Nor  did  the  British  naval 
officers  hesitate  to  impress  seamen  who  were  sus- 


78  UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

pected  of  being  British  subjects.  Republican  oppo 
nents  of  the  Administration,  who  had  felt  the  proc 
lamation  of  neutrality  as  a  rebuff  to  our  old  ally, 
France,  were  now  confirmed  in  their  hostility  to 
Great  Britain.  To  their  minds  ample  cause  for 
war  existed. 

The  policy  which  Jefferson  and  Madison  would 
have  forced  upon  the  Administration  was  one  of  re 
taliation.  In  a  report  to  Congress  Jefferson  proposed 
that  whenever  our  commerce  was  laid  under  restric 
tions  by  a  foreign  nation,  similar  restrictions  should 
be  put  upon  the  trade  of  the  offending  state.  By 
pacific  coercion,  the  United  States  would  oblige 
foreign  states  to  make  favorable  commercial  treaties. 
Madison  urged  this  policy  upon  Congress  in  a  series 
of  resolutions ;  but  the  supporters  of  the  Adminis 
tration  pointed  out  that  retaliatory  measures  would 
sacrifice  the  trade  with  Great  Britain,  which  fur 
nished  seven  eighths  of  the  total  imports  into  the 
country.  It  was  plain  that  the  mercantile  classes 
which  upheld  the  Administration  did  not  desire  either 
war  or  retaliatory  legislation,  however  much  they 
might  be  suffering  from  British  depredations.  The 
resources  of  diplomacy  were  not  yet  exhausted. 
Might  not  a  treaty  be  secured  which  would  open  up 
the  British  West  India  trade? 

Upon  the  news  of  the  offensive  orders  in  council 
of  November,  which  reached  Philadelphia  in  the  fol 
lowing  March,  public  feeling  veered  strongly  toward 
war.  At  the  same  time  with  tales  of  new  outrages 
at  sea  came  a  not  very  well  authenticated  but  com 
monly  accepted  report  of  Lord  Dorchester's  speech 


TESTING   THE   NEW   GOVERNMENT    79 

to  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest,  in  which  he  assured 
his  dusky  hearers  that  war  was  imminent  between 
his  country  and  the  United  States.  Congress  now 
began  to  prepare  for  the  inevitable.  Appropriations 
were  made  for  the  fortification  of  harbors  and  the 
collection  of  military  stores.  The  depredations  of 
the  Algerine  pirates  in  the  Mediterranean  gave  ex 
cuse  for  the  building  of  six  frigates.  An  embargo 
was  laid  upon  commerce  for  thirty  days  and  then 
extended  over  another  thirty  days.  Dayton,  of  New 
Jersey,  alarmed  the  administration  party  by  pro 
posing  the  sequestration  of  all  British  debts  as  an 
indemnity  for  the  vessels  which  had  been  seized  by 
British  cruisers. 

A  rift  now  appeared  in  the  war  cloud.  Early  in 
April,  Washington  received  intelligence  of  a  new 
order  in  council  dated  January  8,  1794,  which  only 
forbade  trade  between  the  French  colonies  and 
Europe,  leaving  American  vessels  to  trade  freely 
with  the  French  West  Indies.  Washington  seized  the 
opportune  moment  to  test  the  resources  of  diplomacy. 
On  April  16,  he  sent  to  the  Senate  the  nomination 
of  Chief  elustice  John  Jay  as  Envoy  Extraordinary 
to  the  Court  of  St.  James.  Three  days  later  the 
nomination  was  confirmed,  and  by  the  middle  of  May, 
Jay  was  on  his  way  to  England  upon  the  most 
difficult  mission  of  his  diplomatic  career. 

Wrhile  Jay  was  pressing  American  grievances 
upon  Lord  Grenville,  not  the  least  of  which  was  the 
retention  of  the  Western  posts  by  British  garrisons, 
events  occurred  near  one  of  the  unsurrendered  posts 
which  might  easily  have  brought  on  war.  The  humili- 


80  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

ating  defeat  of  St.  Clair  in  1791  had  left  the  settlers 
beyond  the  Ohio  at  the  mercy  of  the  Indians.  Brit 
ish  authorities  in  Canada  encouraged  the  Indians 
to  believe  that  by  combination  they  could  check  the 
advance  of  the  whites.  An  Indian  territory  under 
British  protection  would  have  served  the  purposes  of 
Great  Britain  admirably.  To  forestall  these  designs 
President  Washington  appointed  to  command  in  the 
Northwest  Anthony  Wayne  —  "Mad  Anthony"  of 
Revolutionary  days.  With  a  caution  and  thorough 
ness  which  belied  his  reputation,  Wayne  spent 
nearly  two  years  in  recruiting  and  drilling  an  army. 
Every  effort  in  the  mean  time  to  conciliate  the  In 
dians  was  made  futile  by  the  machinations  of  their 
British  advisers.  By  the  spring  of  1794,  Wayne 
had  an  army  sufficiently  trustworthy  to  undertake 
a  forward  movement.  His  route  lay  down  the  Mau- 
mee  River,  at  the  rapids  of  which  Lieutenant- 
Govern  or  Simcoe  had  built  a  fort  and  stationed  a 
small  garrison,  in  anticipation  of  an  American  at 
tack  upon  Detroit,  which  was  supposed  to  be  Wayne's 
objective.  At  a  place  known  as  Fallen  Timber,  a 
few  miles  south  of  the  rapids,  on  August  18,  Wayne 
found  the  Indians  ready  to  offer  battle.  They  had 
chosen  their  ground  with  considerable  skill,  but 
Wayne  employed  his  cavalry  and  infantry  so  effec 
tively  that  he  drove  the  redskins  from  cover  and 
pursued  them  with  great  slaughter  almost  to  the 
walls  of  the  British  fort.  The  British  commander 
demanded  an  explanation.  Wayne  replied  with  a 
taunt  which  amounted  to  a  challenge  and  which  was 
probably  intended  to  be  such;  but  the  British  re- 


TESTING   THE   NEW   GOVERNMENT    81 

fused  to  be  drawn  into  hostilities.  Had  Wayne 
attacked  and  dispersed  the  British  garrison,  lie 
would  hardly  stand  condemned  at  the  bar  of  history, 
for  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  not  he,  but  the  British 
commander,  was  the  intruder  on  foreign  soil.  Never 
theless,  war  at  this  time  would  have  made  Jay's  mis 
sion  futile  and  might  have  sacrificed  the  whole 
Mississippi  Valley. 

The  Administration  had  hardly  time  to  applaud 
Wayne's  victory  when  it  was  greatly  perturbed  by 
an  insurrectionary  movement  in  western  Pennsyl 
vania.  The  sturdy  Scotch-Irish  people  of  the  south 
western  counties  beyond  the  mountains  had  always 
felt  their  aloofness  from  the  eastern  counties.  They 
were  now  still  further  disaffected  because  of  the 
federal  tax  on  spirituous  liquors.  They  shared  the 
feeling  of  the  Continental  Congress,  which  in  1774 
had  declared  an  excise  u  the  horror  of  all  free  states." 
Even  before  the  incidence  of  the  tax  was  fully  felt, 
protests  were  drafted  at  mass-meetings  and  federal 
collectors  were  roughly  treated.  The  tax  fell  with 
heavy  weight  upon  the  small  farmer.  Whiskey  was 
not  merely  his  chief  marketable  commodity :  it  was 
also  his  medium  of  exchange  when  money  was  scarce. 
A  tax  on  his  still  seemed  to  be  an  unfair  discrimi 
nation.  Such  was  the  pitch  of  public  feeling  in  the 
year  1793  that  farmers  who  complied  with  the  law 
had  their  stills  wrecked  by  masked  men,  popularly 
known  as  u  WThiskey  Boys." 

Early  in  July,  1794,  the  marshal  of  the  district 
court  of  Philadelphia  attempted  to  serve  writs  against 
distillers  in  the  western  counties  who  were  charged 


82  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

with  breaking  the  law.  He  chose  his  time  unwisely, 
for  the  farmers  were  in  the  midst  of  harvesting,  and 
liquor  was  circulating  freely  among  the  laborers.  In 
serving  his  last  writ,  he  was  threatened  by  a  number 
of  reapers.  This  was  the  spark  needed  to  start  a  con 
flagration.  On  the  next  morning  the  house  of  a  rev 
enue  inspector,  Neville,  was  attacked  and  blood  was 
shed.  A  small  detachment  of  soldiers  from  Fort  Pitt 
was  stationed  at  the  house  ;  but  on  the  following  day 
they  were  fired  upon  and  forced  to  surrender,  and 
the  house  of  the  inspector  was  burned.  The  marshal 
and  the  inspector  fled  the  country.  Matters  went 
from  bad  to  worse.  The  mail  was  robbed  ;  the  militia 
was  summoned  to  meet  at  Braddock's  Field  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  attacking  the  garrison  at  Fort 
Pitt ;  but  there  the  courage  of  the  leaders  evapo 
rated.  The  attack  upon  the  garrison  was  commuted 
into  a  boisterous  march  through  the  streets  of  Pitts- 
burg,  whose  citizens  purchased  immunity  by  liberal 
donations  of  whiskey  to  the  thirsty  rioters. 

On  August  7,  1794,  the  President  issued  a  proc 
lamation  commanding  the  insurgents  to  disperse, 
and  summoned  twelve  thousand  militia  from  the  ad 
joining  States  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  for 
active  service  on  the  1st  of  September.  Meanwhile, 
earnestly  desiring  to  avoid  the  use  of  force,  Wash 
ington  sent  three  commissioners  to  the  scene  of  the 
riots  in  the  hope  of  appealing  to  the  sober  sense  of 
the  people.  They  held  protracted  negotiations  with 
representatives  of  the  people  in  the  disaffected  dis 
trict,  but  were  unable  to  persuade  them  to  deliver 
up  the  ringleaders  of  the  revolt.  On  September  24, 


TESTING   THE   NEW   GOVERNMENT    83 

the  President  issued  a  second  proclamation  and  set 
the  troops  in  motion.  Under  the  command  of  "  Light 
Horse  Harry  "  Lee,  now  Governor  of  Virginia,  the 
army  marched  west  in  two  divisions,  but  encountered 
no  resistance.  Many  arrests  were  made  and  eighteen 
alleged  leaders  of  the  insurrection  were  sent  to  Phil 
adelphia  for  trial.  Only  two  of  these,  however,  were 
convicted  of  treasonable  conduct,  and  they  were  par 
doned  by  the  President.  Some  twenty-five  hundred 
troops  were  quartered  near  Pittsburg  for  the  winter ; 
but  rebellion  did  not  again  lift  its  head. 

The  utter  collapse  of  the  Whiskey  Rebellion  made 
the  whole  affair  seem  ridiculous  to  those  who  gath 
ered  in  the  coffee-houses  to  hear  the  tales  of  the  mi 
litiamen  ;  but  the  importance  of  the  episode  was  not 
slight.  Hamilton  is  said  to  have  remarked  on  one 
occasion  that  a  government  can  never  be  said  to  be 
established  "  until  some  signal  display  of  force  has 
manifested  its  power  of  military  coercion."  The  Fed 
eral  Government  had  now  demonstrated  that  it  was 
equal  to  the  emergency  whenever  the  laws  were  op 
posed  by  combinations  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed 
by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings  or  by 
the  powers  vested  in  the  marshals  by  law.  The  days 
of  Shays'  Rebellion  had  gone,  never  to  return. 

There  was  an  aspect  of  the  insurrection  which 
Washington  did  not  fail  to  note  in  his  annual  ad 
dress  to  Congress  in  November,  1794.  The  Demo- 
cratic  clubs  had  been  unsparing  in  their  condemna 
tion  of  the  excise  law,  and  their  resolutions  had  more 
than  once  a  treasonable  sound.  Washington  did  not 
hesitate  to  deprecate  the  untoward  influence  of  these 


84  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

"  self-created  societies  "  and  to  condemn  those  "  com 
binations  of  men,  who,  careless  of  consequences,  and 
disregarding  the  unerring  truth  that  those  who  rouse 
cannot  always  appease  a  civil  convulsion,  have  dis 
seminated,  from  an  ignorance  or  perversion  of  facts, 
suspicions,  jealousies,  and  accusations  of  the  whole 
Government."  The  Democratic  societies  now  fell  into 
disrepute  and  did  not  long  survive  their  great  pro 
totype,  the  Jacobin  Club  of  Paris. 

Although  Jay  had  presented  his  credentials  in 
June,  1794,  it  was  the  19th  of  November  before  a 
treaty  was  signed ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  8th  of 
June,  1795,  that  Washington  could  send  an  authentic 
copy  to  the  Senate.  The  most  dispassionate  member 
of  that  body  must  have  confessed  privately  to  a 
sense  of  disappointment  as  he  heard  the  terms  for 
the  first  time.  Listening  intently  for  the  redress  of 
grievances,  he  seemed  to  hear  only  concessions.  The 
United  States  was  to  assume  the  debts  still  unpaid 
to  British  merchants  since  the  peace,  so  far  as  "  law 
ful  impediments"  had  been  put  in  the  way  of  their 
collection  ;  to  open  all  ports  to  British  ships  on  the 
footing  of  the  most  favored  nation  ;  and  to  make 
restitution  for  losses  and  damages  to  the  property 
of  British  subjects  occasioned  by  French  privateers 
in  American  waters,  whenever  compensation  could 
not  be  obtained  in  the  ordinary  course  of  justice. 
And  for  all  these  concessions  what  had  been  gained  ? 
The  promise  to  evacuate  the  Western  posts?  That 
was  but  a  tardy  redemption  of  an  old  promise.  No 
mention  was  made  of  the  negroes  carried  away  by 
Bi-itish  armies  during  the  war.  Nothing  was  said 


TESTING  THE   NEW   GOVERNMENT    85 

about  the  impressment  of  American  seamen.  To  be 
sure,  the  ports  of  the  East  Indies  were  to  be  opened 
i,o  direct  commerce  with  the  United  States  ;  but  no 
American  vessel  might  engage  in  the  coasting  trade 
of  these  East  India  dependencies.  As  for  the  West 
India  trade,  only  vessels  of  seventy  tons  burden 
might  participate,  and  even  that  concession  was 
yielded  on  the  express  understanding  that  molasses, 
sugar,  coffee,  cocoa,  and  cotton  should  not  be  ex 
ported  from  the  United  States  to  any  part  of  the 
world.  After  hearing  this  obnoxious  twelfth  article, 
few  Senators  could  preserve  a  fair  mind  on  the  re 
maining  provisions  of  the  treaty. 

The  historian  is  in  a  better  position  to  evaluate 
the  treaty.  To  the  cause  of  international  arbitration, 
Jay  and  Grenville  made  a  distinct  contribution. 
They  provided  for  three  commissions  which  were  to 
settle  the  uncertain  boundaries  of  the  United  States 
on  the  northeast  and  northwest ;  to  adjudicate  the 
claims  of  British  creditors  ;  and  to  adjust  the  claims 
of  those  citizens  of  the  United  States  whose  ships 
and  cargoes  had  been  seized  in  the  West  India  trade, 
and  on  the  other  hand,  the  claims  of  those  British 
subjects  who  had  suffered  losses  through  French 
privateers  in  American  waters.  Moreover,  an  agree 
ment  was  reached  on  what  should  in  future  be  re 
garded  as  contraband,  and  on  the  treatment  of 
vessels  which  should  be  captured  on  suspicion  of 
carrying  enemies'  property  or  contraband. 

There  were  two  cogent  reasons  for  ratifying  the 
treaty  despite  its  defects  :  it  provided  for  indemnity 
in  respect  to  recent  seizures  on  the  high  seas ;  and  it 


86  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

averted  war.  But  no  arguments  could  justify  the  sur 
render  of  American  trade  in  the  West  Indies,  to  the 
minds  of  either  the  New  England  shipper  or  the 
Southern  planter,  for  while  the  latter  might  be 
indifferent  to  other  considerations,  he  would  not 
willingly  part  with  his  right  to  ship  his  cotton  crop, 
now  becoming  every  year  more  valuable.  The  requi 
site  two-thirds  vote  of  the  Senate  was  secured  only 
by  dropping  out  altogether  the  objectionable  twelfth 
article. 

The  publication  of  the  treaty  was  followed  by  an 
outburst  of  popular  indignation  which  made  even 
the  President  wince.  Remonstrances  and  protests 
poured  in  upon  him  from  every  part  of  the  Union. 
The  sailors  and  shipowners  of  Portsmouth  burned 
Jay  and  Grenville  in  effigy,  together  with  a  minia 
ture  ship  of  seventy  tons.  In  Charleston,  the  flags 
were  put  at  half-mast  and  the  public  hangman 
burned  copies  of  the  treaty  in  the  open  street.  While 
remonstrating  with  a  disorderly  crowd  in  Wall  Street 
which  was  vilifying  Jay,  Hamilton  was  stoned  and 
forced  to  give  way  with  the  blood  streaming  down 
his  face.  Personal  abuse  of  the  coarsest  kind  was 
heaped  upon  Washington  by  the  opposition  press, 
while  a  host  of  pamphleteers  assailed  him  under 
cover  of  anonymity.  Congress  expressed  its  hostility 
toward  the  President  by  omitting  to  congratulate 
him  on  his  birthday. 

In  the  face  of  this  denunciation,  Washington 
might  well  have  hesitated  to  press  the  ratification 
of  the  amended  treaty  upon  Great  Britain.  His  per 
plexities  were  further  increased  by  the  tidings  that 


TESTING   THE   NEW   GOVERNMENT    87 

the  Ministry  had  renewed  the  earlier  orders  for  the 
seizure  of  provisions  on  neutral  vessels  bound  for 
French  ports.  Hamilton  was  of  the  opinion  that  the 
President  should  insist  upon  the  withdrawal  of  this 
order  in  council  and  upon  the  acceptance  of  the 
Senate  amendment  before  he  ratified  the  treaty.  The 
delicate  task  of  securing  the  consent  of  Great  Brit 
ain  to  these  conditions  was  entrusted  to  John  Quincy 
Adams,  then  Minister  at  The  Hague. 

Meanwhile  the  skies  cleared  in  the  Northwest. 
Wayne's  punitive  expedition  had  done  its  work. 
With  their  towns  destroyed  and  their  crops  ruined, 
the  Indians  had  passed  a  terrible  winter.  By  the  fol 
lowing  summer  they  were  ready  to  sue  for  peace.  In 
a  great  council  at  Greenville,  on  August  4,  1795, 
they  agreed  to  a  treaty  which  ceded  to  the  United 
States  all  the  region  south  and  east  of  a  line  run 
ning  from  the  intersection  of  the  Kentucky  and  Ohio 
Rivers  to  Lake  Erie.  Only  one  thing  was  needed  to 
secure  the  Northwest  and  that  was  the  evacuation  of 
the  British  posts. 

During  this  same  summer,  Thomas  Pinckney,  at 
the  Court  of  Madrid,  was  trying  to  secure  the  libera 
tion  of  the  Southwest  from  the  control  of  Spain.  On 
October  27,  1795,  the  treaty  of  San  Lorenzo  was 
signed,  which  conceded  the  thirty-first  parallel  as 
the  northern  boundary  of  West  Florida  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Apalachicola.  This  was  in  itself 
a  notable  achievement ;  but  even  more  important  to 
the  people  of  the  Western  world  was  the  declaration 
that  the  Mississippi  River  should  be  open  to  their 
commerce  with  the  right  of  deposit  at  New  Orleans. 


88  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

The  mission  of  Adams  at  the  Court  of  St.  James 
was  not  less  successful.  The  Ministry  agreed  to 
modify  the  objectionable  order  in  council  and  to  ac 
cept  the  treaty  without  the  twelfth  article.  With 
a  deep  sense  of  relief  Washington  promulgated  the 
treaty  as  the  law  of  the  land  on  February  27,  1795. 
With  these  three  treaties  of  1795,  not  only  was 
war  averted,  but  our  slender  hold  upon  the  vast 
tract  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi 
immeasurably  strengthened,  if  not  secured  for  all 
time. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  attitude  of  historical  writers  toward  the  events  recorded  in 
this  chapter  has  been  considerably  altered  since  the  publication 
of  a  series  of  articles  by  F.  J.  Turner.  The  more  important  of  these 
contributions  are:  ''The  Origin  of  Genet's  Projected  Attack  on 
Louisiana  and  the  Floridas"  (American  Historical  Review,  in); 
"The  Policy  of  France  toward  the  Mississippi  Valley"  (Ibid., 
x);  and  "The  Diplomatic  Contest  for  the  Mississippi  Valley" 
(Atlantic  Monthly,  xcm).  Nearly  all  the  authorities  cited  in  the 
foregoing  chapter  deal  in  greater  or  less  detail  with  the  diplomatic 
events  of  Washington's  Administrations.  The  following  may  be 
added  to  the  list:  Trescott,  Diplomatic  History  of  the  Administra 
tions  of  Washington  and  Adams  (1857);  F.  A.  Ogg,  The  Opening  of 
the  Mississippi  (1904);  C.  D.  Hazen,  Contemporary  American 
Opinion  of  the  French  Revolution  (1897).  The  story  of  the  expedi 
tions  against  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest  is  told  by  Roosevelt, 
Winning  of  the  West  (vol.  iv).  A  reliable  account  of  the  Whiskey 
Insurrection  is  given  in  Brackenridge,  History  of  the  Western  In 
surrection  (1859). 


CHAPTER   V 

ANGLOMEN    AND    JACOBINS 

IN  January,  1795,  Hamilton  retired  from  the 
Treasury  Department.  The  moment  was  well  chosen, 
for  his  great  creative  work  was  done  and  signs  were 
not  wanting  that  the  initiative  in  finance  was  about 
to  pass  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  As  he  passed 
out  of  office,  a  young  Representative  from  Pennsyl 
vania  made  his  appearance  in  Congress  who  was 
scarcely  his  inferior  in  quick  grasp  of  the  intricacies 
of  public  finance.  Almost  the  first  efforts  of  Albert 
Gallatin  were  directed  to  the  improvement  of  the 
methods  of  congressional  finance.  It  was  at  his  sug 
gestion  that  the  first  standing  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Means  in  the  House  was  appointed,  in  the  ex 
pectation  that  it  would  assume  a  general  superin 
tendence  of  finance.  Believing  that  the  Executive 
could  be  held  in  check  only  by  systematic,  specific  ap 
propriations,  Gallatin  became  an  insistent  advocate 
of  the  rule,  and  in  consequence  a  thorn  in  the  flesh 
of  the  departments.  "  The  management  of  the  Treas 
ury,"  complained  Wolcott  to  Hamilton,  "becomes 
more  and  more  difficult.  The  legislature  will  not  pass 
laws  in  gross.  Their  appropriations  are  minute; 
Gallatin,  to  whom  they  yield,  is  evidently  intending 
to  break  down  this  department,  by  charging  it  with 
an  impracticable  detail."  "The  heads  of  depart 
ments,"  Fisher  Ames  wrote  despondently,  two  years 


90  UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

after  Hamilton  left  office,  "are  chief  clerks.  Instead 
of  being  the  ministry,  the  organs  of  the  executive 
power,  and  imparting  a  kind  of  momentum  to  the 
operation  of  the  laws,  they  are  precluded  even  from 
communicating  with  the  House  by  reports."  There 
was  no  room  for  a  British  ministry  in  the  Republican 
scheme  of  politics. 

Meantime,  Washington's  foreign  policy  had  wid 
ened  the  breach  between  the  political  factions  and 
had  forced  him  into  a  partisan  position.  From  the 
Republican  point  of  view,  Jay's  treaty  threw  the 
United  States  into  the  arms  of  England  and  gave 
just  cause  of  offense  to  France.  Knowing  the  popu 
lar  temper,  which  was  undoubtedly  hostile  to  the 
treaty,  the  Republican  leaders  endeavored  to  defeat 
the  purposes  of  the  Administration  by  refusing  to 
vote  the  necessary  appropriations.  Their  first  demand 
was  for  the  papers  relating  to  the  treaty,  on  the 
ground  that  in  matters  upon  which  the  action  of  the 
House  was  needed,  that  body  might  properly  call  for 
information  to  guide  its  deliberations.  The  President 
refused  this  demand,  both  because  he  deemed  it  im 
prudent  to  make  the  papers  public,  and  because  he 
denied  the  right  of  the  House  to  participate  in  the 
treaty-making  power. 

The  debate  which  followed  is  one  of  the  most 
illuminating  in  the  early  history  of  Congress.  The 
trend  of  argument  may  be  suggested  by  two  remarks 
of  opposing  partisans.  Said  Griswold  for  the  Feder 
alists,  "The  House  of  Representatives  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  treaty  but  provide  for  its  execution." 
Disclaiming  that  the  House  was  bent  upon  impair- 


ANGLOMEN  AND  JACOBINS  91 

ing  the  constitutional  right  of  the  President  and 
Senate  to  make  treaties,  Gallatin  contended  that  the 
power  claimed  by  the  House  was  "only  a  negative, 
a  restraining  power  on  those  subjects  over  which 
Congress  has  the  right  to  legislate."  In  vigorous 
resolutions  the  House  sustained  Gallatin's  position ; 
and  the  appropriation  for  the  treaty  was  carried 
only  by  the  casting  vote  of  the  Speaker,  on  April 
29,  two  months  after  Washington  by  proclamation 
had  declared  the  treaty  to  be  the  law  of  the  land. 

The  consequences  of  the  rapprochement  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  were  far-reach 
ing.  The  French  Minister,  Fauchet,  urged  his  Gov 
ernment  to  take  immediate  steps  to  acquire  a  conti 
nental  colony  which  would  not  only  serve  France 
and  her  West  India  colonies  as  a  granary  and  as  a 
market  for  their  exports,  but  which  would  also  bring 
pressure  to  bear  upon  the  disaffected  border  com 
munities  of  the  United  States.  Such  a  colony  was 
Louisiana.  With  this  province  in  her  possession,  a 
power  like  France  would  speedily  control  the  Missis 
sippi  and  the  Western  people  who  used  that  highway 
for  their  commerce.  Throughout  the  year  1795,  the 
French  Government  sought  by  persuasion  and  threats 
to  secure  Louisiana  from  Spain  as  the  price  of  an 
alliance. 

How  far  the  Administration  was  apprised  of  these 
designs  is  not  clear;  but  against  the  background  of 
French  intrigue  certain  passages  of  Washington's 
Farewell  Address  take  on  a  new  significance.  The 
West  was  warned  that  it  could  control  "the  indis 
pensable  outlets  for  its  own  productions "  only  by 


92  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

attaching  itself  firmly  to  "the  Atlantic  side  of  the 
Union."  "  Any  other  tenure  .  .  .  whether  derived 
from  its  own  separate  strength,  or  from  an  apostate 
and  unnatural  connection  with  any  foreign  power, 
must  be  intrinsically  precarious."  And  the  admission 
of  Tennessee  as  a  State  in  the  year  1796  may  have 
been  hastened  by  an  ill-defined  fear  that  the  people 
of  the  West  might  not  be  proof  against  French 
machinations. 

The  purpose  of  Washington  not  to  accept  a  re 
election  was  known  to  his  intimates  early  in  the 
spring  of  1796.  Upon  whom  would  his  mantle  fall? 
There  was  much  searching  of  hearts  among  Federal 
ist  leaders,  but  by  the  end  of  the  summer  it  was  well 
understood  that  Federalist  electors  would  support 
John  Adams  and  Thomas  Pinckney  for  the  Presi 
dency  and  Vice-Presidency.  The  most  talented  man 
in  the  party  was  unquestionably  Alexander  Hamil 
ton  ;  but  Hamilton  had  made  too  many  enemies  to 
be  a  popular  candidate.  By  common  consent,  Thomas 
Jefferson  became  the  candidate  of  the  Republicans 
for  President ;  with  him  was  associated  Aaron  Burr, 
of  New  York. 

The  most  remarkable  aspect  of  the  campaign  of 
1796  was  the  undisguised  attempt  of  Adet,  who  had 
succeeded  Fauchet,  to  turn  the  election  in  Jefferson's 
favor.  The  treaty  with  England  could  not  be  un 
done  ;  but  France  had  much  to  hope  from  a  Repub 
lican  administration.  In  a  series  of  letters  directed 
to  the  Secretary  of  State,  but  printed  in  the  Phila 
delphia  Aurora,  Adet  announced  that  the  Directory 
regarded  the  treaty  of  commerce  concluded  with 


ANGLOMEN  AND  JACOBINS  93 

Great  Britain  as  "  a  violation  of  the  treaty  made 
with  France  in  1778,  and  equivalent  to  a  treaty  of 
alliance  with  Great  Britain."  "  Justly  offended,"  the 
Directory  had  ordered  him  to  "  suspend  his  minis 
terial  functions  with  the  Federal  Government."  This 
action,  however,  was  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  rupture 
between  the  two  peoples,  but  only  "  as  a  mark  of 
just  discontent,  which  is  to  last  until  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  returns  to  sentiments  and 
to  measures,  more  conformable  to  the  interests  of 
the  alliance,  and  the  sworn  friendship  between  the 
two  nations." 

Adet  would  have  had  the  people  believe  that  the 
alternatives  were  Jefferson  or  war;  and  the  threat 
of  war,  so  it  was  said,  was  enough  to  drive  the 
peace-loving  Quakers  of  Pennsylvania  into  the  Re 
publican  ranks.  In  more  northerly  States  Adet's 
manifesto  probably  had  the  opposite  effect.  "  There 
is  not  one  elector  east  of  the  Delaware  River,"  de 
clared  the  Connecticut  C our  ant,  "  who  would  not 
sooner  be  shot  than  vote  for  Thomas  Jefferson.' 
Not  a  Republican  elector  was  chosen  in  the  States 
to  the  north  and  east  of  Pennsylvania.  On  the  other 
hand,  Adams  received  only  two  electoral  votes  south 
of  the  Potomac.  South  Carolina  divided  its  vote 
between  Jefferson  and  Pinckney.  Only  unexpected 
votes  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  gave  Adams 
the  election,  for  Pennsylvania  was  carried  by  the 
Republicans.  Pinckney  lost  the  Vice-Presidency 
through  the  defection  of  Federalists  in  New  Eng 
land. 

An  incident  of  the  election  in  Pennsylvania  re- 


94  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

vealed  the  change  already  wrought  by  parties  in 
the  Constitution.  The  framers  of  the  Constitution 
expected  that  a  small  number  of  persons  selected  by 
their  fellow  citizens  from  the  general  mass  would 
deliberately  weigh  "  all  the  reasons  and  inducements 
which  were  proper  to  govern  their  choice,"  and  in 
their  mature  wisdom  choose  the  individual  who  met 
the  requirements  of  the  office.  It  fell  out  otherwise. 
In  Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  six  States  to  choose 
electors  by  popular  vote,  each  party  had  put  for 
ward  a  ticket  with  fifteen  names.  Thirteen  of  the 
fifteen  Eepublicaii  electors  were  chosen.  Of  the  two 
Federalist  electors  who  were  chosen,  one  broke  faith 
with  his  party  and  cast  his  vote  for  Jefferson  and 
Pinckney.  The  Federalists  were  exasperated  by  this 
treachery.  "  What !  "  expostulated  a  writer  in  the 
United  States  Gazette :  "  Do  I  chuse  Samuel  Miles 
to  determine  for  me  whether  John  Adams  or  Thomas 
Jefferson  shall  be  President  ?  No !  I  chuse  him  to 
act,  not  to  think" 

While  Adet  was  endeavoring  to  bring  what  the 
Federalists  called  the  French  party  into  power,  the 
Administration  was  urging  the  reluctant  Monroe  at 
Paris  to  make  the  Jay  Treaty  as  palatable  as  possi 
ble  to  the  French  Government.  This  was  an  irksome 
task  for  that  ardent  Republican.  From  the  outset  of 
his  mission  he  found  it  difficult  to  sustain  that  de 
tachment  from  French  politics  which  his  position  de 
manded.  Moreover,  after  having  assured  the  French 
Government  that  Jay  was  negotiating  at  London 
only  for  the  redress  of  grievances  and  not  for  a  com 
mercial  treaty,  Monroe  found  it  peculiarly  humiliat- 


ANGLOMEN  AND  JACOBINS  95 

ing  to  be  obliged  to  confess  that  he  had  been  kept 
in  ignorance  of  the  real  trend  of  negotiations.  Under 
these  circumstances,  he  temporized  and  gave  only 
half-hearted  attention  to  the  task  of  placating  the 
Directory.  Hamilton  now  advised  his  recall ;  and 
Washington,  who  had  on  two  occasions  expressed 
his  displeasure  with  Monroe's  conduct,  determined 
to  send  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney  in  his  stead. 

Trivial  as  this  incident  seems,  it  was  not  without 
its  effect  upon  the  course  of  diplomacy  abroad  and  of 
politics  at  home.  When  Monroe  endeavored  to  put 
his  successor  into  touch  with  the  French  Foreign 
Office,  he  was  told  that  the  Directory  was  not  pre 
pared  to  receive  another  American  representative 
until  their  grievances  had  been  redressed.  This  affront 
left  Pinckney  in  an  embarrassing  position,  for  until 
his  credentials  were  accepted,  he  was  liable,  like  all 
foreigners  at  that  time,  to  arrest  as  a  spy.  It  was  not 
until  February,  after  many  months  of  waiting,  that 
he  was  given  his  passport.  lie  at  once  crossed  the 
border  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Amsterdam. 

Meantime,  Monroe  had  taken  his  departure  with 
the  warmest  expressions  of  regard  on  the  part  of  the 
French  Government.  He  was  assured  that  his  worth 
and  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  his  country's  interests 
were  understood  and  appreciated.  He  returned  to  the 
United  States  with  the  firm  conviction,  which  his 
Republican  friends  shared,  that  he  had  been  made  the 
victim  of  Federalist  chicanery.  In  the  following  year 
he  published  an  elaborate  defense  which  served  ad 
mirably  as  a  popular  campaign  document  in  the  next 
presidential  elections. 


96  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

It  fell  to  John  Adams  on  the  very  threshold  of  his 
administration  to  deal  with  what  he  euphemistically 
called  the  misunderstanding  with  France.  His  in 
augural  address  announced  unmistakably  his  inten 
tion  to  preserve  neutrality  between  the  belligerents 
of  Europe,  and  to  treat  France  with  impartiality  but 
with  a  sincere  desire  for  her  friendship.  Between  the 
lines  may  be  read  also  an  equally  sincere  desire  to 
placate  the  opposition  and  to  free  himself  from  all 
imputation  of  a  bias  toward  Great  Britain  and  a 
monarchical  system.  From  the  first  news  of  Pinck- 
ney's  dismissal,  President  Adams  was  disposed  "to 
institute  a  fresh  attempt  at  negotiation "  :  he  even 
approached  Jefferson  to  see  if  he  would  not  persuade 
Madison  to  serve  on  a  special  commission,  believing 
that  Madison's  well-known  Gallic  sympathies  would 
commend  him  to  the  French  nation.  At  the  same 
time  he  declared  stoutly  in  a  message  to  Congress,  in 
special  session  on  May  15,  that  France  had  treated 
the  United  States  "  neither  as  allies  nor  as  friends 
nor  as  a  sovereign  state."  Attempts  which  had  been 
made  to  create  a  rupture  between  the  people  of  the 
United  States  and  their  Government  "  ought  to  be 
repelled  with  a  decision  which  shall  convince  France 
and  the  world  that  we  are  not  a  degraded  people  hu 
miliated  under  a  colonial  spirit  of  fear  and  sense  of 
inferiority."  While  he  therefore  recommended  meas 
ures  of  defense,  he  asked  the  Senate  to  confirm  the 
appointment  of  three  commissioners  whom  he  pro 
posed  to  send  to  France.  Two  of  these,  Pinckney  and 
John  Marshall,  were  Federalists,  but  the  third  was 
Elbridge  Gerry,  a  Massachusetts  Republican,  who 


ANGLOMEN  AND  JACOBINS  97 

was  the  second  choice  of  the  President,  Dana  having 
declined  to  serve. 

While  Congress  was  acting  upon  the  President's 
recommendations  and  voting  appropriations  for  for 
tifications  and  for  the  completion  of  the  three  frig 
ates  which  were  then  on  the  stocks,  disquieting  dis 
closures  came  from  the  West.  Spain  having  declared 
war  upon  England  in  the  previous  fall,  British  emis 
saries,  it  was  rumored,  were  concerting  plans  for  the 
conquest  of  New  Orleans  and  West  Florida.  While 
expeditions  made  up  of  Western  frontiersmen  and 
Indians  descended  upon  the  Spanish  strongholds  in 
the  Southwest,  a  British  fleet  was  to  blockade  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  The  evidence  which  Presi 
dent  Adams  laid  before  Congress  in  July  implicated 
Senator  Blount,  of  Tennessee.  In  common  with  other 
land  speculators,  he  had  become  alarmed  at  the  ru 
mor  that  France  was  about  to  acquire  Louisiana,  and 
had  agreed  to  use  his  influence  among  the  whites  and 
Indians  of  the  Southwest,  where  he  had  formerly 
been  governor,  to  assist  the  designs  of  Great  Britain. 
He  was  expelled  from  the  Senate  and  impeached. 
Before  his  trial  could  take  place,  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  legislature  of  Tennessee,  and  from 
that  point  of  vantage  he  successfully  defied  the  fed- 
3ral  authorities. 

The  episode  had  unfortunate  consequences :  it 
aroused  the  distrust  of  the  Spanish  Government  and 
delayed  the  surrender  of  Natchez  and  other  posts 
which  Spain  had  agreed  to  cede  in  the  Treaty  of 
1795  ;  and  it  furnished  Talleyrand,  who  had  become 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  under  the  Directory, 


98  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

with  an  additional  argument  for  the  cession  of  Louis 
iana  to  France.  France  in  control  of  Louisiana  and 
Florida  would  be  ua  wall  of  brass  forever  im 
penetrable  to  the  combined  efforts  of  England  and 
America." 

Early  in  March,  1797,  dispatches  arrived  from 
the  envoys  which  were  full  of  sinister  disclosures. 
On  the  19th,  President  Adams  announced  gloomily 
that  he  perceived  "  no  ground  of  expectation"  that 
the  objects  of  the  mission  could  be  accomplished  "  on 
terms  compatible  with  the  safety,  honor,  or  the  essen 
tial  interests  of  the  nation."  He  renewed  his  recom 
mendations  of  measures  of  defense  "proportioned  to 
the  danger."  The  average  Republican  regarded  this 
message  as  tantamount  to  a  declaration  of  war. 
Jefferson  spoke  of  it  as  "  an  insane  message."  The 
partisan  press  held  it  to  be  further  proof  of  British 
bias  in  John  Adams,  the  old  aristocrat !  But  when 
the  President  sent  to  Congress  the  deciphered  dis 
patches,  and  the  newspapers  had  printed  extracts 
from  them,  a  wave  of  indignation  swept  over  the 
country.  For  the  moment  the  wildest  partisan  of 
France  was  silenced. 

The  envoys  told  a  sordid  tale  of  French  intrigue 
and  greed.  It  appeared  that  they  had  never  been 
received  officially  when  they  made  known  their  pres 
ence  on  French  soil,  but  had  been  approached  by 
agents  of  Talleyrand,  whom  they  referred  to  in  the 
dispatches  as  Mr.  X,  Mr.  Y,  and  Mr.  Z.  They  were 
much  mystified  by  the  language  used  by  these  gen 
tlemen,  until  the  evening  of  October  18,  when  Mr.  X 
called  on  General  Pinckuey  and  whispered  that  he 


ANGLOMEN  AND  JACOBINS  99 

had  a  message  from  Talleyrand.  "  General  Pinckney 
said  he  should  be  glad  to  hear  it.  Mr.  X  replied  that 
the  Directory,  and  particularly  two  of  the  members 
of  it,  were  exceedingly  irritated  at  some  passages  of 
the  President's  speech,  and  desired  that  they  should 
be  softened ;  and  that  this  step  would  be  necessary 
previous  to  our  reception.  That,  besides  this,  a  sum 
of  money  was  required  for  the  pocket  of  the  Diree 
tory  and  Ministers,  which  would  be  at  the  disposal 
of  M.  Talleyrand;  and  that  a  loan  would  also  be  in 
sisted  on.  Mr.  X  said  if  we  acceded  to  these  meas 
ures,  M.  Talleyrand  had  no  doubt  that  all  our  dif 
ferences  with  France  might  be  accommodated.  On 
inquiry,  Mr.  X  could  not  point  out  the  particular 
passages  of  the  speech  that  had  given  offense,  nor 
the  quantum  of  the  loan,  but  mentioned  that  the 
douceur  for  the  pocket  was  twelve  hundred  thousand 
livres,  about  fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling." 

Unwilling  to  believe  their  ears,  the  astonished  en 
voys  asked  to  have  these  proposals  put  in  writing. 
Mr.  X  not  only  complied  with  this  request,  but 
brought  with  him  Mr.  Y,  a  confidential  friend  of 
Talleyrand,  who  repeated  the  terms  upon  which  the 
envoys  would  be  received,  and  pointed  out  convenient 
means  by  which  the  money  could  be  secretly  trans 
ferred. 

The  American  commissioners  responded  that  while 
they  had  ample  powers  to  make  a  treaty,  they  had 
none  to  make  a  loan.  They  offered,  however,  to  send 
one  of  their  number  to  America  for  further  instruc^ 
tions,  provided  that  the  Directory  would  check  the 
further  capture  of  American  vessels.  Nevertheless, 


100          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

the  efforts  of  X  and  Y  to  secure  the  douceur  were 
not  relaxed.  Finally,  finding  the  envoys  either  obsti 
nate  or  obtuse,  Mr.  X  exclaimed,  "  Gentlemen,  you 
do  not  speak  to  the  point.  It  is  money ;  it  is  ex 
pected  that  you  will  offer  money."  The  Americans 
were  inexorable.  "  What  is  your  answer  ?  "  asked  X 
impatiently.  "  It  is,"  said  the  envoys,  "  no,  no ;  not 
a  sixpence." 

On  November  1,  the  commissioners  agreed  to  hold 
no  more  indirect  intercourse  with  the  Government, 
but  to  prepare  a  statement  of  the  American  griev 
ances  against  France  and  to  send  it  to  Talleyrand. 
Two  weary  months  passed  before  they  received  his 
answer.  Couched  in  language  which  was  both  con 
temptuous  and  insulting,  this  reply  of  Talleyrand 
terminated  the  mission.  The  Directory  intimated 
that  in  future  they  would  treat  only  with  Gerry  as 
"  the  more  impartial "  member  of  the  commission. 
Pinckney  and  Marshall  remonstrated  against  this 
discrimination,  but  Gerry  unwisely  consented  to  deal 
with  Talleyrand  alone.  Marshall  secured  a  passport 
with  some  difficulty  and  departed  for  home.  Pinck 
ney  with  more  difficulty  secured  permission  to  retire 
to  southern  France  with  his  invalid  daughter. 

The  war  spirit  now  ran  high.  President  Adams 
declared  that  he  would  never  send  another  minister 
to  France  without  assurances  that  he  would  be  "  re 
ceived,  respected,  and  honored  as  the  representative 
of  a  great,  free,  powerful,  and  independent  nation," 
and  the  people  supported  this  declaration  with  sur 
prising  unanimity.  Demonstrations  occurred  in  all 
the  playhouses  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York  ;  young 


ANGLOMEN  AND  JACOBINS         101 

men  formed  associations  and  donned  the  black  cock 
ade  as  an  emblem  of  patriotic  devotion ;  even  in  the 
quiet  towns  of  New  England,  women  met  to  drink 
tea  and  to  sing  the  new  song  "  Adams  and  Liberty." 
Cities  along  the  coast  vied  with  one  another  in  their 
eagerness  to  build  warships.  The  patriotic  fervor 
found  expression  in  original  song  and  verse.  "  Hail 
Columbia  "  was  the  happy  inspiration  of  young  Jo 
seph  Hopkinson,  of  Philadelphia,  For  once  in  his  life 
President  John  Adams  found  himself  a  popular  hero 
riding  on  the  crest  of  public  applause. 

To  the  intense  disgust  of  Jefferson,  even  Republi 
cans  caught  the  war  fever,  and  joined  with  the  Fed 
eralists  in  putting  the  country  on  a  war  footing. 
Among  the  earliest  measures  of  Congress  was  an  act 
providing  for  the  establishment  of  a  Navy  Depart 
ment,  In  rapid  succession  followed  acts  authorizing 
the  President  to  permit  merchantmen  to  arm  in  their 
own  defense  and  our  warships  to  seize  French  vessels 
which  preyed  upon  our  commerce.  On  July  7,  the 
existing  treaties  with  France  were  repealed.  In  short, 
without  a  formal  declaration,  the  United  States  was 
virtually  at  war  with  France.  The  new  navy  soon  put 
to  sea  and  gratified  national  pride  by  several  gal 
lant  victories,  the  most  notable  being  the  capture  of 
the  frigate  L'Insurgente  by  the  newly  commissioned 
Constellation,  on  February  9,  1799.  When  peace 
was  restored  in  1800,  the  navy  had  a  record  of  eighty- 
four  prizes,  most  of  which  were  French  privateers. 

The  organization  of  the  provisional  army  did  not 
move  so  rapidly,  partly  because  of  the  incompetence 
of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  partly  because  of  an 


102          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

unseemly  wrangle  for  precedence  among  the  three 
major-generals  whom  Adams  had  named.  Conscious 
of  his  own  inexperience  in  military  affairs,  President 
Adams  had  persuaded  Washington  to  take  chief  com 
mand  of  the  army  with  the  distinct  understanding 
that  he  would  not  be  called  into  active  service  unless 
an  emergency  arose.  Washington  named  Hamilton, 
C.  C.  Pinckney,  and  Knox  as  major-generals,  and  the 
President  sent  the  nominations  to  the  Senate  in  this 
order.  Misunderstandings  arose  at  once  as  to  the  rel 
ative  rank  of  these  three  major-generals.  Hamilton 
and  his  intimates  in  the  circle  of  the  President's  ad 
visers  urged  that  as  his  name  was  first  on  the  list  he 
was  the  ranking  officer.  At  this  Knox  took  umbrage, 
for  he  had  outranked  Hamilton  in  the  old  army  ; 
and  so,  too,  had  Pinckney.  Knowing  the  intrigue  in 
Hamilton's  behalf  and  not  a  little  alarmed  at  the 
prospect  of  having  the  direction  of  the  war  pass  into 
the  hands  of  a  man  whom  he  regarded  as  a  rival, 
Adams  determined  to  sign  the  commissions  in  the 
reverse  order,  thus  giving  Knox  precedence.  The 
friends  of  Hamilton  were  enraged  at  this  turn  of 

O 

affairs  and  prevailed  upon  Washington  to  write  a 
letter  of  protest  to  the  President.  Adams  was  finally 
persuaded  to  date  all  three  commissions  alike  and  to 
leave  the  designation  of  rank  to  the  Commander-in- 
chief.  Washington  promptly  named  Hamilton  as 
inspector-general  with  precedence  over  Pinckney  and 
Knox ;  whereupon  Knox  refused  to  serve. 

The  immediate  outcome  of  this  controversy  was 
to  widen  the  rift  which  was  already  separating  the 
President  from  the  faction  led  by  Hamilton.  Adams 


ANGLOMEN  AND  JACOBINS          103 

had  taken  office  in  the  belief  that  Washington's 
cabinet  advisers  were  loyal  to  him.  "  Pickering  and 
all  his  colleagues  are  as  much  attached  to  me  as  I 
desire,'  he  had  written  just  before  his  inauguration. 
But  he  speedily  found  that  all  were  accustomed  to 
look  to  Hamilton  as  the  virtual  leader  of  the  Fed 
eralist  party.  Moreover,  he  found  himself  thrust  into 
the  background  in  the  matter  of  military  appoint 
ments,  as  soon  as  Hamilton  took  over  the  actual  work 
of  organizing  the  army.  The  Constitution  made  him 
commander-in-chief ;  circumstances  seemed  to  con 
spire,  he  complained  bitterly,  "  to  annihilate  the  essen 
tial  powers  given  to  the  President."  He  had,  too, 
all  the  natural  aversion  of  a  civilian  for  military 
affairs.  "  Regiments  are  costly  articles  everywhere," 
he  told  McHenry  testily,  "  and  more  so  in  this  country 
than  in  any  other  under  the  sun.  And  if  this  country 
sees  a  great  army  to  maintain,  without  an  enemy  to 
fight,  there  may  arise  an  enthusiasm  that  seems  to 
be  little  foreseen." 

It  would  have  been  strange,  indeed,  if  under  these 
circumstances  the  President  had  not  scanned  the 
horizon  anxiously  for  the  faintest  intimations  of 
peace.  In  October,  1798,  definite  assurances  were 
given  by  Talleyrand,  through  our  Minister  at  The 
Hague,  that  France  would  receive  a  new  minister 
from  the  United  States.  On  February  18,  1799,  the 
President  confounded  both  friends  and  foes  by  send 
ing  to  the  Senate  the  nomination  of  Vans  Murray 
to  be  Minister  to  France.  The  emotions  of  the  mili 
tant  Federalists  were  too  various  to  admit  of  descrip 
tion.  It  would  have  been  madness,  however,  not  to 


104          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

accept  the  proffered  olive  branch.  Swallowing  their 
wrath,  they  agreed  to  the  mission,  but  substituted  a 
commission  of  three  for  a  single  minister. 

From  Napoleon,  the  new  master  of  France,  the 
commissioners  secured  a  convention  which  not  only 
restored  peace,  but  safeguarded  the  rights  of  neu 
trals,  by  restraining  the  right  of  search  and  conceding 
the  principle  that  free  ships  make  free  goods.  Napo 
leon  consented  also  to  the  abrogation  of  the  treaties 
of  1778,  but  only  upon  condition  that  the  new  treaty 
should  contain  no  provision  for  the  settlement  of 
claims  for  indemnity.  John  Adams  was  not  far  from 
the  truth  when  he  accounted  this  peace  one  of  the 
most  meritorious  actions  of  his  life.  "  I  desire  no 
other  inscription  over  my  gravestone,"  he  wrote 
fifteen  years  later,  "  than  :  4  Here  lies  John  Adams, 
who  took  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of  the  peace 
with  France  in  the  year  1800.'" 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

On  the  origin  and  growth  of  political  parties  in  the  United 
States,  the  following  books  are  suggestive  and  informing:  H.  J. 
Ford,  The  Rise  and  Growth  of  American  Politics  (1898) ;  C.  E.  Mer- 
riam,  A  History  of  American  Political  Theories  (1910);  J.  P.  Gordy, 
Political  History  of  the  United  States  (2  vols.,  1900-03);  A.  E. 
Morse,  The  Federalist  Party  in  Massachusetts  to  the  Year  1800 
(1909);  J.  D.  Hammond,  History  of  the  Political  Parties  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  1789-18 40  (2  vols.,  1850).  To  those  histories 
already  mentioned  which  describe  the  quarrel  with  France  may 
be  added  G.  W.  Allen,  Our  Naval  War  with  France  (1909),  and 
A.  T.  Mahan,  Influence  of  Sea  Power  on  the  French  Revolution  and 
Empire  (2  vols.,  1898).  A  most  readable  account  of  manners  and 
customs  in  America  is  given  by  La  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, 
Travels  through  the  United  States,  1795-1797  (2  vols.,  1799).  Social 
life  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia  is  described  by  R.  W.  Gris- 
wold,  The  Republican  Court  (1864). 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    REVOLUTION    OF   1800 

THE  greatest  obstacle  in  the  path  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States  in  their  struggle  toward  national 
life  was  the  vastness  of  the  territory  which  they  oc 
cupied.  Even  the  region  between  the  Alleghanies 
and  the  sea  was  as  yet  imperfectly  subdued.  Great 
tracts  of  wilderness  separated  communities  beyond 
the  fall-line  of  the  rivers.  Intercourse  was  incredibly 
difficult  even  between  the  commercial  ports  of  New 
England  and  the  Middle  States.  Stage-coaches  plied 
between  Boston  and  New  York,  to  be  sure,  and  be 
tween  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  By  stage,  too, 
a  traveler  could  reach  Baltimore  and  Washington 
in  the  course  of  time.  But  beyond  the  Potomac  public 
conveyances  were  few  and  uncertain  in  their  routes. 
The  only  public  stage  in  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia 
plied  between  Charleston  and  Savannah.  Those 
whom  either  public  or  private  business  forced  to 
journey  from  these  remote  Southern  States  to  Phila 
delphia  took  passage  in  coasting  vessels.  It  is  difficult 
to  say  which  were  greater,  the  perils  by  land  or  by 
sea.  Writing  from  Philadelphia  in  1790,  William 
Smith,  of  South  Carolina,  described  the  misfortunes 
of  his  fellow  Congressmen  in  trying  to  reach  the  seat 
of  government,  as  follows:  "Burke  was  shipwrecked 
off  the  Capes  ;  Jackson  and  Mathews  with  great  diffi 
culty  landed  at  Cape  May  and  traveled  one  hundred 


106          UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 

and  sixty  miles  in  a  wagon  to  the  city.  Burke  got 
here  in  the  same  way.  Gerry  and  Partridge  were 
overset  in  the  stage  ;  the  first  had  his  head  broke  and 
made  his  entree  with  an  enormous  black  patch ;  the 
other  had  his  ribs  sadly  bruised  and  was  unable  to 
stir  for  some  days.  Tucker  had  a  dreadful  passage 
of  sixteen  days  with  perpetual  storms.  I  wish  these 
little  contretemps  may  not  sour  their  tempers  and 
be  inauspicious  to  our  proceedings." 

Even  in  the  North,  where  distances  were  not  so 
great  and  where  great  arms  of  the  ocean  did  not 
penetrate  so  far  inland,  as  in  North  Carolina,  for 
example,  interposing  so  many  barriers  to  communi 
cation,  travel  was  painfully  slow  and  hazardous. 
Travelers  who  made  the  journey  from  Boston  to  New 
York  by  stage-coach  accounted  themselves  lucky  if 
they  reached  their  destination  in  six  days,  for  no 
bridges  spanned  any  of  the  great  waterways  and  the 
crossing  by  ferryboats  was  uncertain  and  often  dan 
gerous.  Many  travelers  preferred  to  journey  by 
water  from  port  to  port,  but  coasting  vessels,  con 
tending  with  the  winds  and  the  tides,  were  often  nine 
or  ten  days  in  sailing  from  Boston  to  New  York. 

The  post  traveled  with  somewhat  greater  speed ; 
yet  a  letter  sent  from  Portland,  Maine,  could  not  be 
delivered  in  Savannah,  Georgia,  in  less  than  twenty 
days.  From  Philadelphia  a  post  went  to  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  in  sixteen  days,  and  to  Nashville,  Tennes 
see,  in  twenty-two  days.  The  cost  of  these  posts,  like 
the  cost  of  traveling,  was  in  many  cases  prohibitive. 
The  rate  for  a  letter  of  a  single  sheet  was  twenty- 
five  cents.  News  traveled  slowly  from  State  to  State. 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF   1800          107 

The  best  news  sheets  in  New  York  printed  intelli 
gence  from  Virginia  which  was  almost  as  belated  as 
that  which  the  packets  brought  from  Europe. 

With  such  barriers  in  the  way  of  intercourse,  the 
masses,  so  far  indeed  as  they  possessed  the  suffrage 
at  all,  were  not  politically  self-assertive.  Devoted 
primarily  to  the  pursuit  of  agriculture  and  commerce, 
essentially  rural  in  their  distribution,  the  people  had 
neither  the  desire  nor  the  means,  nor  yet  the  leisure, 
to  engage  in  active  politics.  Politics  was  the  occupa 
tion  of  those  who  commanded  leisure  and  some  ac 
cumulated  wealth.  The  voters  of  the  several  States 
touched  each  other  only  through  their  leaders.  In 
these  early  years  national  parties  were  hardly  more 
than  divisions  of  a  governing  class.  Party  organiza 
tion  was  visible  only  in  its  most  rudimentary  form 
—  a  leader  and  a  personal  following.  The  machinery 
of  a  modern  party  organization  did  not  come  into 
existence  until  the  railroad  and  the  steamboat  tight 
ened  the  bonds  of  intercourse  between  State  and 
State,  and  between  community  and  community. 

In  another  respect  political  parties  of  the  Federal 
ist  period  differed  from  later  political  organizations. 
Under  stress  of  foreign  complications,  Federalists 
and  Republicans  were  forced  into  an  irreconcilable 
antagonism.  The  one  group  was  thought  to  be  Brit 
ish  in  its  sympathies,  the  other  Gallic.  In  the  eyes 
of  his  opponents,  the  Republican  was  no  better  than 
a  democrat,  a  Jacobin,  a  revolutionary  incendiary ; 
and  the  Federalist  no  better  than  a  monocrat  and  a 
Tory.  The  effect  was  denationalizing.  Each  lost  con 
fidence  in  the  other's  Americanism. 


108          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

The  Federalists,  in  control  of  the  Executive,  — • 
and  thus,  in  the  common  phrase,  "  in  power,"  —  were 
disposed  to  view  the  opposition  as  factious,  if  not 
treasonable.  Washington  deprecated  the  spirit  of 
party  and  thought  it  ought  not  to  be  tolerated  in  a 
popular  government.  Fisher  Ames  expressed  a  com 
mon  Federalist  conviction  when  he  wrote  in  1796: 
"  It  is  a  childish  comfort  that  many  enjoy,  who  say 
the  minority  aim  at  place  only,  not  at  the  overthrow 
of  government.  They  aim  at  setting  mobs  above  law, 
not  at  the  filling  places  which  have  known  legal  re 
sponsibility.  The  struggle  against  them  is  therefore 
pro  aris  etfocis;  it  is  for  our  rights  and  liberties." 
Such  a  state  of  mind  can  be  understood  only  by  a 
diligent  reading  of  the  newspapers  and  political  tracts 
of  the  time.  Republican  journalists,  many  of  whom 
were  of  alien  origin,  still  gloried  in  the  ideals  and 
achievements  of  the  French  Revolution.  But  liberty 
and  democracy,  as  preached  by  a  Tom  Paine  and 
glorified  by  a  Callender  and  exemplified  by  the  Reign 
of  Terror  in  France,  had  caused  an  ominous  reaction 
in  the  minds  of  upholders  of  the  established  order  in 
the  United  States. 

Under  these  circumstances,  when,  in  the  minds  of 
those  in  authority,  party  was  identified  with  faction, 
and  faction  was  held  to  be  synonymous  with  treason, 
the  position  of  the  Republicans  was  precarious.  War 
with  France  they  bitterly  opposed,  but  were  powerless 
to  prevent.  The  path  of  opposition  was  made  all  the 
more  difficult  by  the  well-known  attitude  of  conspic 
uous  Federalist  leaders  who  favored  war  as  an  op 
portunity  for  discrediting  their  political  opponents, 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1800          109 

or,  as  Higginson  expressed  it,  for  closing  the  "  ave 
nues  of  French  poison  and  intrigue." 

Laboring  under  the  conviction  that  they  had  to 
deal  not  only  with  an  enemy  without  but  with  an 
insidious  foe  within,  the  Federalists  carried  through 
Congress  in  June  and  July,  1798,  a  series  of  meas 
ures  which  are  usually  cited  as  the  Alien  and  Sedi 
tion  Acts.  The  first  in  the  series  was  the  Naturaliza 
tion  Act,  which  lengthened  the  period  of  residence 
required  of  aliens  who  desired  citizenship,  from  five 
to  fourteen  years.  The  Alien  Act  authorized  the 
President,  for  a  period  of  two  years,  to  order  out  of 
the  country  all  such  aliens  as  he  deemed  dangerous 
to  public  safety  or  guilty  of  treasonable  designs 
against  the  Government.  Failure  to  leave  the  coun 
try  after  due  warning  was  made  punishable  by  impris 
onment  for  a  term  not  exceeding  three  years  and  by 
exclusion  from  citizenship  for  all  time.  A  third  act 
conferred  upon  the  President  the  further  discretionary 
power  to  remove  alien  enemies  in  time  of  war  or  of 
threatened  war.  Finally,  the  Sedition  Act  added  to 
the  crimes  punishable  by  the  federal  courts  unlawful 
conspiracy  and  the  publication  of  "  any  false,  scan 
dalous,  and  malicious  writings  "  against  the  Govern 
ment,  President,  or  Congress,  with  the  intent  to 
defame  them  or  to  bring  them  into  contempt  or  dis 
repute.  For  conspiracy  the  penalty  was  a  fine  not 
exceeding  five  thousand  dollars  and  imprisonment 
not  exceeding  five  years ;  for  seditious  libel,  a  fine 
not  exceeding  two  thousand  dollars  and  imprison 
ment  not  exceeding  two  years. 

The  debates  in  Congress  left  little  doubt  that  the 


110          UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 

Sedition  Act  was  a  weapon  forged  for  partisan  pur 
poses.  The  Federalists  were  convinced  that  France 
maintained  a  party  in  America  which  by  means  of 
corrupt  hirelings  and  subsidized  presses  was  para 
lyzing  the  efforts  of  the  Administration  to  defend 
national  rights.  That  there  was  great  provocation 
for  the  act  cannot  be  denied.  The  tone  of  the  press 
generally  was  low;  but  between  the  scurrilous  as 
saults  of  Cobbett  in  Porcupine's  Gazette  upon  Re 
publican  leaders,  and  the  atrocious  libels  of  Bache 
upon  President  Washington,  there  is  not  much  to 
choose. 

What  the  opposition  had  to  fear  from  the  Sedition 
Act,  appeared  with  startling  suddenness  in  October, 
1798,  when  Representative  Matthew  Lyon,  of  Ver 
mont,  an  eccentric  character  who  had  become  the  butt 
of  all  Federalists,  was  indicted  for  publishing  a  letter 
in  which  he  maintained  that  under  President  Adams 
"  every  consideration  of  the  public  welfare  was  swal 
lowed  up  in  a  continual  grasp  for  power,  in  an  un 
bounded  thirst  for  ridiculous  pomp,  foolish  adulation, 
and  selfish  avarice."  The  unlucky  Lyon  was  found 
guilty,  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  four  months, 
and  fined  one  thousand  dollars. 

Alarmed  by  this  attack  on  what  he  termed  the 
freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  Jefferson  cast 
about  for  some  effective  form  of  protest.  Collaborat 
ing  with  John  Breckenridge,  a  member  of  the  Ken 
tucky  Legislature,  he  prepared  a  series  of  resolutions 
which  were  adopted  by  that  body,  while  Madison, 
then  a  member  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses, 
secured  the  adoption  of  a  set  of  resolutions  of  sim- 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF   1800          111 

liar  purport  which  he  had  drafted.  Both  sets  of  reso 
lutions  condemned  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  as 
unwarranted  by  the  letter  of  the  Constitution  and 
opposed  to  its  spirit.  Both  reiterated  the  current 
theory  of  the  Union  as  a  compact  to  which  the  States 
were  parties  ;  and  both  intimated  that,  as  in  all  other 
cases  of  compact  among  parties  having  no  common 
judge,  each  party  had  an  equal  right  to  judge  for  itself, 
as  well  of  infractions  as  of  the  mode  of  redress. 

The  real  purport  of  these  Virginia  and  Kentucky 
Resolutions  has  been  much  misunderstood.  The  em 
phasis  should  fall  not  upon  the  compact  theory,  for 
that  was  commonly  accepted  at  this  time ;  nor  yet 
upon  the  vague  remedies  suggested  by  the  phrases 
"  nullification  "  and  "  interposition."  With  these 
remedies  Jefferson  and  Madison  were  not  greatly 
concerned.  Protest  rather  than  action  was  upper 
most  in  their  minds.  As  Jefferson  said  to  Madison, 
they  proposed  to  "leave  the  matter  in  such  a  train 
as  that  we  may  not  be  committed  absolutely  to  ex 
tremities,  and  yet  may  be  free  to  push  as  far  as  events 
will  render  prudent."  What  they  desired  was  such 
an  affirmation  of  principles  as  should  rally  their  fol 
lowers  and  arrest  the  usurpation  of  power  by  their 
opponents.  The  fundamental  position  assumed  is  that 
the  Federal  Goverment  is  one  of  limited  powers  and 
that  citizens  must  look  to  their  State  Governments 
as  bulwarks  of  their  civil  liberties,  whenever  the 
express  terms  of  the  federal  compact  are  violated. 
The  Federal  Government  was  not  to  be  allowed  to 
become  the  judge  of  its  own  powers.  By  recalling 
the  party  to  its  original  position  of  opposition  to  the 


UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

consolidating  tendencies  of  the  Federalists,  the  reso 
lutions  of  1798  served  much  the  same  purpose  as  a 
modern  party  platform.  In  this  light,  their  ambigui 
ties  are  not  greater  nor  their  political  theories  more 
vague  than  those  of  later  platforms. 

In  the  early  months  of  1799,  petitions  for  the  re 
peal  of  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  began  to  pour 
in  upon  Congress  from  the  Middle  States;  but  the 
Federalists  felt  secure  enough  in  popular  favor  to 
ignore  these  protests.  With  a  keener  ear  for  the 
voice  of  the  people,  Jefferson  summoned  his  Repub 
lican  friends  to  seize  the  moment  to  effect  ar  entire 
"revolution  of  the  public  mind  to  its  republican 
soundness."  "This  summer  is  the  season  for  syste 
matic  energies  and  sacrifices,"  he  wrote  to  Madison. 
"  The  engine  is  the  press.  Every  man  must  lay  his 
purse  and  pen  under  contribution."  The  response 
was  immediate  and  hearty.  Not  only  were  political 
pamphlets  printed  and  distributed  from  Cape  Cod  to 
the  Blue  Ridge,  but  an  astonishing  number  of  news 
papers  were  founded  to  disseminate  Republican  doc 
trine.  The  three  or  four  years  before  the  presidential 
election  of  1800  are  marked  by  an  unprecedented 
journalistic  revival.  Instead  of  being  mere  pur 
veyors  of  facts,  these  newspapers  became,  as  a  con 
temporary  observes, "  Vehicles  of  discussion,  in  which 
the  principles  of  government,  the  interests  of  nations, 
the  spirit  and  tendency  of  public  measures,  and  the 
public  and  private  characters  of  individuals,  are  all 
arraigned,  tried,  and  decided."  Such  a  systematic 
attempt  to  direct  public  opinion  had  not  been  made 
since  the  early  days  of  the  Revolution. 


*8 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF   1800          113 

The  Federalists  watched  this  Republican  revival 
with  grave  misgivings.  What  Jefferson  called  "the 
awakening  of  the  spirit  of  1776  "  was  to  Fisher 
Ames  an  ominous  sign  of  impending  "  revolution 
ary  Robespierrism."  Federalists  of  the  Hamiltonian 
brand  unhesitatingly  held  the  Republicans  responsible 
for  the  Fries  Rebellion,  which  occurred  in  Pennsyl 
vania.  The  immediate  occasion  for  these  disturbances, 
to  be  sure,  was  the  federal  house  tax,  but  the  rioting 
occurred  in  those  eastern  counties  which  were  ar 
dently  Republican ;  hence  the  outbreak  could  be 
denounced  plausibly  enough  as  the  result  of  Jacobin 
teachings.  In  some  alarm  the  Administration  dis 
patched  troops  to  quell  the  riots,  and  prosecuted  the 
leaders  with  relentless  vigor.  Fries  was  condemned 
to  death,  and  the  President's  advisers  would  have 
carried  out  the  decree  of  the  court,  "  to  inspire  the 
malevolent  and  factious  with  terror  "  ;  but  President 
Adams  persisted  in  pardoning  Fries,  holding  wisely 
that  there  was  grave  danger  in  so  construing  treason 
as  to  apply  it  to  "every  sudden,  ignorant,  inconsid 
erable  heat,  among  a  part  of  the  people,  wrought  up 
by  political  disputes,  and  personal  and  party  ani 
mosities."  Such  motives  were  not  appreciated  by  the 
circle  of  Hamilton's  admirers.  Why  were  the  rene 
gade  aliens  who  were  running  the  incendiary  presses 
wot  sent  out  of  the  country,  Hamilton  asked  Pick 
ering.  "  Are  laws  of  this  kind  passed  merely  to  ex' 
cite  odium  and  remain  a  dead  letter  ?  " 

If  the  Administration  made  only  a  half-hearted 
effort  to  arrest  and  deport  aliens,  it  could  at  least 
not  be  accused  of  letting  the  Sedition  Act  remain  a 


114          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

dead  letter.  Some  unnecessary  and  thoroughly  un 
wise  prosecutions  in  the  year  1799  were  followed  by  a 
series  of  trials  for  seditious  libel  in  the  spring  term 
of  the  federal  courts.  All  the  individuals  indicted  were 
either  editors  or  printers  of  Republican  newspapers. 
The  impression  created  by  these  prosecutions  was, 
therefore,  that  the  Administration  had  determined  to 
crush  the  opposition.  What  deepened  this  impression 
was  the  obvious  bias  of  the  federal  judges  and  the 
partisanship  of  the  juries,  which  it  was  alleged  were 
packed  by  the  prosecution. 

With  one  accord  Republican  editors  lifted  up  their 
voices  in  defense  of  freedom  of  speech,  never  losing 
from  view,  however,  the  political  possibilities  of  the 
situation.  The  more  prosecutions  the  better,  wrote 
one  editor  significantly  to  a  fellow  victim  :  "  You 
know  the  old  ecclesiastical  observation  that  the  blood 
of  the  martyrs  was  the  seed  of  the  church."  From 
the  Federalist  point  of  view  these  editors  were  "lying 
Jacobins,"  incendiaries,  anarchists.  "  Should  Jacob 
inism  gain  the  ascendency,"  an  orator  at  Deerfield, 
Massachusetts,  warned  his  auditors,  in  the  midst  of 
the  elections  of  1800,  "let  every  man  arm  himself, 
not  only  to  defend  his  property,  his  wife,  and  chil 
dren,  but  to  secure  his  life  from  the  dagger  of  his 
Jacobin  neighbor."  In  vain  Republicans  protested 
that  they  had  a  right  to  form  a  party  to  oppose 
measures  which  they  deemed  destructive  to  public 
liberty.  They  were  not  opposing  the  Constitution 
but  the  Administration  ;  not  government  in  general, 
but  the  existing  Government,  of  men  who  were  em 
ploying  despotic  methods. 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF   1800         115 

In  the  presidential  election  of  1800  only  four  of 
the  sixteen  States  provided  for  a  choice  of  the  elec 
tors  directly  by  the  people.  The  outcome  depended 
upon  the  action  of  the  legislatures  in  a  compara 
tively  few  States.  New  England  was  so  steadfast  in 
the  Federalist  faith  that  the  Republicans  gave  up 
all  hope  of  contesting  the  control  of  the  legislatures. 
After  an  electioneering  tour  through  Connecticut, 
Aaron  Burr  is  said  to  have  remarked  that  they 
might  as  well  attempt  to  revolutionize  the  King 
dom  of  Heaven.  On  the  other  hand,  Jeffersonian 
Republicanism  was  deeply  rooted  in  Virginia,  Ken 
tucky,  Tennessee,  and  Georgia.  The  contestable 
area  lay  in  the  Middle  States  and  in  the  Caro- 
linas. 

In  the  early  spring,  both  parties  began  to  burnish 
their  armor  for  the  first  encounter  in  New  York.  It 
was  generally  believed  that  the  May  elections  to  the 
Assembly  would  determine  the  vote  of  the  presi 
dential  electors,  and  that  the  vote  of  the  city  of  New 
York  would  settle  the  control  of  the  Assembly.  The 
task  of  carrying  the  legislative  districts  of  the  city 
for  the  Republicans  fell  to  Aaron  Burr,  past-master 
of  the  art  of  political  management  and  first  of  the 
long  line  of  political  bosses  of  the  great  metropolis. 
How  he  concentrated  the  party  vote  upon  a  ticket 
which  bore  such  names  as  those  of  George  Clinton, 
Horatio  Gates,  and  Henry  Rutgers ;  how  he  wooed 
and  won  voters  in  the  doubtful  seventh  ward  among 
the  laboring  classes,  —  these  are  matters  which  elude 
the  most  painstaking  researches  of  the  historian.  The 
outcome  was  a  Republican  Assembly  which  beyond 


116          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

a  perad venture  would  give  the  electoral  vote  of  the 
State  to  the  Republican  candidates. 

In  another  respect  Burr's  victory  in  New  York 
was  important.  It  made  him  the  logical  and  most 
available  candidate  for  the  vice-presidential  nomi 
nation.  By  general  consent  Jefferson  became  for  the 
second  time  the  candidate  of  his  party  for  the  Presi 
dency.  On  May  11,  the  Republican  members  of 
Congress  met  in  caucus  and  unanimously  agreed  to 
support  Burr  for  the  Vice-Presidency.  Already  wise 
acres  were  figuring  out  the  probabilities  of  a  Republi 
can  victory. 

It  was  a  chastened  group  of  Federalist  Congress 
men  who  met  in  caucus  on  May  3,  after  the  dis 
heartening  tidings  from  New  York.  Though  their 
hearts  misgave  them,  they  still  supported  John 
Adams.  To  carry  South  Carolina,  they  agreed  to 
support  Charles  C.  Pinckney  for  the  Vice-Presidency ; 
but  rumor  had  it  that  many  Federalists  would  be  glad 
to  see  Pinckney  outstrip  Adams,  —  a  hope  which  in 
the  course  of  the  summer  was  frankly  avowed  by 
Hamilton.  In  a  letter  which  he  had  privately  printed 
for  circulation  among  the  Federalists,  Hamilton  de 
clared  without  disguise  his  hostility  to  Adams.  The 
imprudence  of  this  act  was  apparent  when  Burr 
seized  upon  a  copy  of  the  letter  and  scattered  re 
prints  far  and  wide  as  good  campaign  material. 

The  effect  of  Hamilton's  indiscretion  was  probably 
slight.  Adams  carried  all  the  electoral  votes  in  the 
New  England  States,  leading  Pinckney  by  a  single 
vote.  The  Federalists  were  completely  successful  also 
in  New  Jersey  and  Delaware.  Through  the  tactics 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1800          117 

of  thirteen  Federalists  in  the  Senate  of  Pennsylvania, 
they  won  seven  of  the  fifteen  electoral  votes  of  that 
State.  In  Maryland  they  divided  the  electoral  vote 
evenly  with  their  opponents.  In  North  Carolina,  they 
secured  four  of  the  twelve  votes ;  but  in  South  Caro 
lina  they  were  completely  discomfited.  Instead  of 
carrying  his  own  State  for  the  ticket,  Pinckney  was 
outgeneraled  by  the  strategy  of  his  cousin  Charles 
Pinckney,  who  effected  an  irresistible  combination  of 
the  Piedmont  farmers  and  the  artisans  of  Charleston. 
The  loss  of  South  Carolina  was  irretrievable  and 
decisive.  The  Federalists  had  to  concede  the  defeat 
of  their  ticket. 

The  exultation  of  the  Republicans  was  at  first  un 
bounded.  "  The  election  of  a  Republican  President," 
wrote  the  editor  of  the  Schenectady  Cabinet  triumph 
antly,  "  is  a  new  Declaration  of  Independence,  as  im 
portant  in  its  consequences  as  that  of  '76,  and  of 
much  more  difficult  achievement."  But  the  elation 
of  the  Jeffersonians  was  somewhat  tempered  by  the 
information  that  Jefferson  and  Burr  had  an  equal 
number  of  votes  in  the  electoral  college.  Adams  was 
defeated,  to  be  sure,  but  was  Thomas  Jefferson  elected? 
Neither  Jefferson  nor  Burr  had  "the  highest  num 
ber  of  votes  "  which  the  Constitution  required  for  an 
election.  The  House  of  Representatives,  therefore, 
must  choose  between  them.  But  the  House  was  Fed 
eralist!  Coincidently  with  these  tidings  came  rumors 
that  the  Federalists  would  prevent  an  election  by  the 
House  until  the  4th  of  March  passed,  when  the 
Presidency  and  Vice-Presidency  would  fall  vacant, 
necessitating  a  new  election.  Scarcely  less  ominous 


118          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

was  the  report  that  the  Federalists  would  endeavor 
to  seat  Burr  in  the  presidential  chair. 

When  balloting  began  in  the  House  on  February 
11,  1801,  enough  Federalists  had  been  involved  in 
an  intrigue  to  defeat  Jefferson  to  give  the  vote  of 
six  States  to  Burr.  Jefferson  received  the  vote  of 
eight  States,  but  not  the  majority  which  was  needed 
to  elect,  inasmuch  as  the  delegations  of  two  States 
were  evenly  divided.  The  result  was  the  same  on 
thirty-five  successive  ballots.  On  the  thirty-sixth, 
February  17,  Jefferson  received  the  votes  of  ten 
States  and  Burr  of  four.  The  votes  of  Delaware  and 
South  Carolina  were  blank,  the  Federalists  having 
agreed  to  produce  a  tie  by  not  voting.  A  similar  ab 
stention  from  voting  on  the  part  of  Federalists  from 
Vermont  and  Maryland  gave  the  votes  of  those 
States  to  Jefferson. 

More  than  any  other  man,  Bayard,  of  Delaware, 
was  responsible  for  the  election  of  Jefferson.  Find 
ing  that  Burr  would  not  "  commit  himself,"  Bayard 
announced  that  he  would  cast  the  single  vote  of  his 
State  for  Jefferson.  "  You  cannot  well  imagine  the 
clamor  and  vehement  invective  to  which  I  was  sub 
jected  for  some  days,"  he  wrote  to  Hamilton.  "  We 
had  several  caucuses.  All  acknowledged  that  nothing 
but  desperate  measures  remained,  which  several  were 
disposed  to  adopt,  and  but  few  were  willing  openly 
to  disapprove.  We  broke  up  each  time  in  confu 
sion  and  discord,  and  the  manner  of  the  last  ballot 
was  arranged  but  a  few  minutes  before  the  ballot 
was  taken."  How  narrowly  the  Federalists  escaped 
the  folly  of  electing  Burr  may  be  inferred  from  the 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF   1800          119 

further  statement  of  Bayard,  that  "  the  means  ex 
isted  of  electing  Burr,  but  this  required  his  coopera 
tion.  By  deceiving  one  man  (a  great  blockhead), 
and  tempting  two  (not  incorruptible),  he  might  have 
secured  a  majority  of  the  States." 

In  after  years  Jefferson  was  wont  to  speak  of  his 
election  as  "  the  Revolution  of  1800."  To  his  mind, 
it  was  "  as  real  a  revolution  in  the  principles  of  our 
government  as  that  of  1776  was  in  its  form  ;  not 
effected,  indeed,  by  the  sword,  as  that,  but  by  the 
rational  and  peaceable  instrument  of  reform,  the  suf 
frage  of  the  people."  In  one  sense,  at  least,  Jeffer 
son  was  right.  Taken  collectively,  the  events  of 
1800  do  constitute  a  revolution  —  the  first  party 
revolution  in  American  history.  For  a  season  it 
seemed  as  though  the  Republican  party  was  to  be 
denied  the  right  to  exist  as  a  legal  opposition,  en 
titled  to  attain  power  by  persuasion.  At  the  risk 
of  incurring  the  suspicion  of  disloyalty,  if  not  of 
treason,  the  Republicans  clung  tenaciously  to  their 
rights  as  a  minority.  By  persistent  use  of  the  press, 
by  unremitting  personal  efforts,  and  by  adroit  elec 
tioneering,  the  leaders  succeeded  in  arousing  the 
apathetic  masses  and  converted  their  minority  into 
an  actual  majority.  They  won,  therefore,  for  all 
time  that  recognition  of  the  right  of  legal  opposition 
which  is  the  primary  condition  of  successful  popular 
government. 

The  change  in  political  weather  was  foreshadowed 
during  the  summer  of  1800  by  the  removal  of  the 
seat  of  government  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac. 
For  ten  years  Philadelphia  had  been  the  center  of 


120          UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 

the  political  and  the  social  worlds,  which  for  the 
only  time  in  American  history  were  then  identical. 
Even  those  who  knew  the  court  life  of  Europe  mar 
veled  at  the  display  of  wealth  and  fashion  at  this 
republican  court.  Of  this  social  world,  the  "  Presi 
dent  and  his  Lady  "  were  not  merely  the  titular  and 
official  leaders,  but  the  real  leaders.  Between  the 
Virginia  aristocracy  and  the  wealthy  families  of 
Philadelphia  there  were  natural  affinities.  And  if 
the  second  Federalist  President  and  his  consort  did 
not  become  leaders  in  quite  the  same  sense,  it  was 
because  John  and  Abigail  Adams  belonged  tempera 
mentally  to  a  more  restrained  society. 

Those  who  had  enjoyed  the  hospitalities  of  the 
Morrises,  the  Binghams,  and  the  Willings,  and  the 
bodily  comforts  of  Philadelphia  hotels  and  inns, 
were  not  likely  to  find  any  compensations  in  the  un 
kempt,  straggling  village  which  the  Government  and 
private  speculators  were  trying  to  convert  into  a 
fitting  abode  for  the  National  Government.  There 
were  few  comfortable  private  dwellings.  Most  of 
the  houses  were  mere  huts  occupied  by  laborers. 
Great  tracts  were  left  unfenced  and  uncultivated,  in 
the  firm  expectation  that  an  extraordinary  rise  in 
land  value  was  about  to  take  place.  That  craze  for 
speculation  in  land  which  had  possessed  those  with 
any  idle  capital  afflicted  every  landowner  in  or  near 
the  new  city. 

When  Mrs.  Adams  finally  reached  the  city,  after 
a  difficult  journey  through  the  forest  between  Balti 
more  and  Washington,  she  met  with  anything  but 
a  cheering  welcome.  The  President's  house  was  not 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF   1800          121 

yet  finished  :  the  plaster  was  not  even  dry  on  the 
walls.  It  was  built  on  a  grand  and  superb  scale,  but 
the  thrifty  New  England  spirit  of  the  President's 
wife  was  appalled  at  the  prospect  of  having  to  em 
ploy  thirty  servants  to  keep  the  apartments  in  order 
and  to  tend  the  fires  which  had  everywhere  to  be 
kept  np  to  drive  away  the  ague.  The  ordinary  con 
veniences  were  wanting.  For  lack  of  a  yard,  Mrs. 
Adams  made  a  drying-room  out  of  the  great  unfin 
ished  audience  room.  And  the  only  society  which  she 
might  enjoy  was  in  Georgetown,  two  miles  away. 
"  We  have,  indeed,"  she  wrote,  "  come  into  a  new 
country.'"  But  with  true  pioneer  spirit,  she  added, 
"It  is  a  beautiful  spot,  capable  of  every  improve 
ment,  and,  the  more  I  view  it,  the  more  I  am  de 
lighted  with  it." 

The  gloom  which  enveloped  the  Federalists  after 
the  elections  of  the  year  deepened  as  they  straggled 
into  the  new  capital  in  November.  They  approached 
their  labors  as  men  who  would  save  what  they  could 
of  a  falling  world.  For  some  time  there  had  been  an 
urgent  demand  for  the  reorganization  of  the  federal 
judiciary.  The  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  ob 
jected  to  circuit  duty  and  urged  the  erection  of  a  cir 
cuit  court  with  a  permanent  bench  of  judges.  Such 
a  reform  was  inevitable,  it  was  said  ;  therefore  let 
the  Federalists  find  what  consolation  they  might 
from  the  possession  of  these  new  judgeships.  Patriot 
ism,  too,  suggested  the  wisdom  of  filling  the  judiciary 
with  men  who  would  uphold  the  established  order. 
"  In  the  future  administration  of  our  country,"  Pres 
ident  Adams  wrote  to  Jay,  "  the  firmest  security  we 


122          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

can  have  against  the  effects  of  visionary  schemes  or 
fluctuating  theories  will  be  in  a  solid  judiciary." 

The  Judiciary  Act  of  February  13,  1801,  which 
embodied  these  aims,  added  five  new  districts  to 
those  which  had  been  established  in  1789,  and 
grouped  the  twenty-two  districts  into  six  circuits. 
The  amount  of  patronage  which  thus  fell  into  the 
President's  hands  was  very  considerable,  though  it 
was  grossly  exaggerated  by  Republicans.  The  parti 
san  press  pictured  President  John  Adams  signing  the 
commissions  of  these  new  judgeships  to  the  very 
stroke  of  twelve  on  the  night  of  March  3,  and  then 
entering  his  coach  and  driving  in  haste  from  the 
city. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

On  the  organization  of  parties  at  the  close  of  the  century  there 
are  two  works  of  importance:  G.  D.  Luetscher,  Early  Political 
Machinery  in  the  United  States  (1903),  and  M.  Ostrogorski,  De 
mocracy  and  the  Organization  of  Political  Parties  (2  vols.,  1902. 
Vol.  n  deals  with  parties  in  the  United  States) .  Prosecutions  under 
the  Sedition  Act  are  reported  in  F.  Wharton,  State  Trials  of  the 
United  States  during  the  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams 
(2  vols.,  1846).  F.  T.  Hill,  Decisive  Battles  of  the  Law  (1907),  gives 
an  interesting  account  of  the  trial  of  Callender.  Two  special 
studies  should  be  mentioned:  E.  D.  Warfield,  The  Kentucky  Reso 
lutions  of  1798  (1887),  and  F.  M.  Anderson,  "Contemporary  Opin 
ion  of  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Resolutions,"  in  the  American 
Historical  Review,  vol.  v.  The  spirit  of  American  politics  at  this 
time  can  be  best  appreciated  by  perusing  Porcupine's  Works,  the 
writings  of  Callender  and  Tom  Paine,  and  the  letters  of  Fisher 
Ames,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  Timothy 
Pickering. 


CHAPTER   VII 

JEFFERSONIAN    REFORMS 

THE  society  over  whose  political  destiny  Thomas 
Jefferson  was  to  preside  for  eight  years  was  for  the 
most  part  still  rural  and  primitive.  Evidences  of  a 
higher  culture  were  wanting  outside  of  communities 
like  Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  Charleston.  Even  in 
Philadelphia,  the  literary  as  well  as  the  social  and 
political  capital,  the  poet  Moore  could  find  only  a 
sacred  few  whom  "'t  was  bliss  to  live  with,  and  't 
was  pain  to  leave."  American  life  had  not  yet  cre 
ated  an  atmosphere  in  which  poetry,  or  even  science, 
could  thrive.  The  scientific  curiosity  of  the  younger 
generation  does  not  seem  to  have  been  whetted  in 
the  least  by  the  startling  experiments  of  Franklin  ; 
and  the  figure  of  Philip  Freneau  stands  almost  alone, 
though  Connecticut,  to  be  sure,  boasted  of  her 
Dwight,  her  Trumbull,  and  her  Barlow.  The  "  Con 
necticut  wits  "  are  interesting  personalities  ;  but  the 
society  which  could  read,  with  anything  akin  to 
pleasure,  Dwight's  Conquest  of  Canaan  —  an  epic 
in  eleven  books  with  nearly  ten  thousand  lines  — was 
more  admirable  for  its  physical  endurance  than  for 
its  poetical  intuitions.  Latrobe  was  quite  right  when 
he  wrote  that  in  America  the  labor  of  the  hand  took 
precedence  over  that  of  the  mind. 

The  American  people  were  still  engaged  almost 
exclusively  in  agriculture  and  commerce.  Manufac- 


124          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

turing  was  in  its  infancy.  In  his  report  on  manu 
factures  in  1791,  Hamilton  had  named  seventeen 
industries  which  had  made  notable  progress,  but 
most  of  these  were  household  crafts.  In  1790,  Sam 
uel  Slater  had  duplicated  the  inventions  of  Har- 
greaves  and  Arkwright,  and  had,  with  Moses  Brown, 
of  Rhode  Island,  set  up  a  successful  cotton  mill  at 
Pawtucket ;  but  ten  years  later  only  four  factories 
were  in  operation  i»  the  whole  country. 

The  wars  in  Europe  had  created  an  unprecedented 
and  ever-increasing  demand  for  American  agricul 
tural  products.  The  price  of  foodstuffs  like  flour  and 
meal  reached  a  point  which  made  possible  enormous 
profits.  Shipping  became,  therefore,  the  indispensa 
ble  handmaid  of  agriculture,  as  Jefferson  observed. 
The  volume  of  trade  expanded  at  an  astonishing 
rate.  The  total  value  of  exports  mounted  from 
$20,000,000  in  1790  to  $94,000,000  in  the  year  of 
Jefferson's  inauguration.  One  half  of  this  amount, 
however,  represented  the  value  of  commodities  like 
sugar,  coffee,  and  cocoa,  which  had  been  brought 
into  the  country  for  exportation.  The  easy  and  al 
most  certain  profits  of  this  trade  attracted  capital 
which  might  otherwise  have  gone  into  manufacturing. 

Shipping  was  stimulated  also  by  the  Navigation 
Act  of  1789,  which  imposed  lower  tonnage  duties  in 
American  ports  on  vessels  built  or  owned  by  Ameri 
can  citizens,  and  by  the  Tariff  Act  of  the  same  year, 
which  allowed  a  ten  per  cent  deduction  from  the 
customs  duties  levied  on  goods  imported  in  American 
vessels.  These  discriminating  duties,  together  with 
the  law  of  1792,  which  excluded  foreign-built  ships 


Distribution  of  Population 
1800 


0          100        200        300 

f      1  xmder  2  inhabitants  to  sq.  mile 
EH  From  2  to  6 

rcnrn  From  e  to  is 

1  From  18  to  45 


85*        Longitude  We,t       from   UrMDwicn        71 


126          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

from  American  registry,  would  have  aided  materially 
in  the  building  of  an  American  marine,  even  in  less 
prosperous  times.  The  registered  tonnage  engaged  in 
foreign  trade  increased  from  346,254  in  1790  to 
718,549  in  1801 ;  and  in  coast  trade,  from  103,775 
to  246,255.  Yet  there  was  an  artificial  quality  in 
this  prosperity.  "  Temporary  benefits  were  mistaken 
for  permanent  advantages,"  writes  a  contemporary; 
"  so  certain  were  the  profits  on  the  foreign  voyages, 
that  commerce  was  only  pursued  as  an  art ;  .  .  .  the 
philosophy  of  commerce,  if  I  am  allowed  the  expres 
sion,  was  totally  neglected  .  .  .  they  [merchants]  did 
not  contemplate  a  period  of  general  peace,  when  each 
nation  will  carry  its  own  productions,  when  dis 
criminations  will  be  made  in  favour  of  domestic  ton 
nage,  when  foreign  commerce  will  be  limited  to  enu 
merated  articles,  and  when  much  circumspection  will 
be  necessary  in  all  our  commercial  transactions." 

It  cannot  be  said,  either,  that  the  American 
farmer  studied  the  philosophy  of  agriculture.  He 
owed  his  crops  less  to  intelligent  cultivation  of  the 
soil  than  to  provident  Nature  in  a  new  and  untilled 
country.  Both  his  methods  and  his  implements  were 
bad,  and  resulted  in  that  land  spoliation  which  has 
been  the  bane  of  American  industry.  "  Agriculture 
in  the  South,"  said  John  Taylor,  of  Caroline,  "does 
not  consist  so  much  in  cultivating  land  as  in  killing 
it "  ;  and  the  statement  was  scarcely  less  true  when 
applied  to  the  Northern  farmer.  The  soil  was  rap 
idly  exhausted  by  planting  the  same  crop  year  after 
year,  for  it  was  easier  to  take  up  fresh  land  than  to 
restore  productivity  to  the  old.  Indeed,  the  comments. 


JEFFERSONIAN   REFORMS  127 

of  foreign  travelers  at  the  close  of  the  century  sug 
gest  doubts  as  to  whether  the  American  farmer  un 
derstood  the  importance  of  rotating  his  crops  and  of 
fertilizing  his  fields.  The  farming  implements  in  use 
showed  little  of  that  mechanical  ingenuity  which  is 
now  characteristic  of  the  American  people.  The 
plough  was  still  a  clumsy  affair  with  heavy  beam  and 
handles,  and  wooden  mould-board.  The  scythe,  the 
sickle,  and  the  flail  were  the  same  as  their  forbears 
had  used  for  centuries. 

The  demand  of  Europe  for  the  food  products  of 
the  Northern  and  Middle  States  obscured  for  a  time 
the  importance  of  cotton  as  an  article  of  export.  In 
1790,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  then  the  only 
cotton-growing  States,  produced  less  than  two  million 
pounds  of  inferior  quality,  none  of  which  was  ex 
ported.  A  decade  later  thirty-five  million  pounds 
were  raised,  one  half  of  which  was  exported  ;  and 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee  had  begun 
the  cultivation.  This  sudden  .development  was  due 
to  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  by  Eli  Whitney, 
in  1793.  This  machine  facilitated  the  separation  of 
the  seed  from  the  fiber  of  the  short-staple  variety  of 
cotton,  which  alone  could  be  profitably  cultivated  in 
the  uplands,  and  thus  made  possible  a  vast  extension 
of  the  area  of  cotton  culture. 

The  cotton  gin  came  at  an  opportune  moment  for 
the  Southern  planters,  since  rice  and  indigo  were 
declining  in  importance  as  exports,  and  their  gangs 
of  African  slaves  were  likely  to  become  a  burden. 
They  could  now  cultivate  cotton  under  an  extensive 
system  of  agriculture  with  large  immediate  profits. 


128          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Experience  proved,  however,  that  the  system  was 
extraordinarily  wasteful,  leading  to  a  rapid  exhaus 
tion  of  the  soil.  This  ever-recurring  exhaustion  of 
the  soil  and  demand  for  new  land  was  a  potent  cause 
of  the  incessant  pressure  of  population  into  the  vir 
gin  lands  of  the  Southwest,  in  succeeding  decades. 

The  new  President  was  the  embodiment  of  the 
national  life.  Although  he  was  tall  of  stature,  he 
was  not  outwardly  an  impressive  figure.  His  red, 
freckled  face  wore  a  frank,  good-natured  expression, 
but  he  lacked  dignity  and  poise.  "  His  whole  figure 
has  a  loose,  shackling  air,"  wrote  a  contemporary. 
"  A  laxity  of  manner  seemed  shed  about  him  .  .  . 
even  his  discourse  partook  of  his  personal  demeanor. 
It  was  loose  and  rambling."  With  his  blue  coat  and 
red  waistcoat,  his  green  velveteen  breeches,  yarn 
stockings,  and  slippers  down  at  the  heels,  he  seemed 
to  an  English  visitor,  who  saw  him  in  1804,  "  very 
much  like  a  tall,  large-boned  farmer."  Jefferson 
would  have  been  the  last  to  resent  this  epithet. 
No  man  had  a  more  profound  respect  for  tillers  of 
the  soil.  Years  before  he  had  written :  "  Generally 
speaking,  the  proportion  which  the  aggregate  of  the 
other  classes  of  citizens  bears  in  any  State  to  that 
of  its  husbandmen  is  the  proportion  of  its  sound  to 
its  healthy  parts,  and  is  a  good  enough  barometer 
whereby  to  measure  its  degree  of  corruption."  He 
rejoiced  in  the  agricultural  possibilities  of  America. 
Could  he  have  had  his  way,  he  would  have  made  the 
republic,  in  the  apt  phrase  of  Mr.  Henry  Adams, 
"  an  enlarged  Virginia  —  a  society  to  be  kept  pure 
and  free  by  the  absence  of  complicated  interests,  by 


JEFFERSONIAN  REFORMS  129 

the  encouragement  of  agriculture  and  of  commerce 
as  its  handmaid."  He  abhorred  cities  and  factories, 
and  dreaded  the  growth  of  a  manufacturing  and 
capitalist  class. 

An  agricultural  society  bent  upon  justice,  Jeffer 
son  believed,  could  always  protect  itself  against  the 
aggressions  of  foreign  nations.  "  Our  commerce,"  he 
wrote  soon  after  his  inauguration,  "  is  so  valuable  to 
them,  that  they  will  be  glad  to  purchase  it,  when  the 
only  price  we  ask  is  to  do  us  justice.  I  believe  we 
have  in  our  own  hands  the  means  of  peaceable  coer 
cion."  In  this  wise  the  United  States  would  set  an 
example  to  the  world  of  a  society  democratically 
organized  and  capable  of  unlimited  moral  and  physi 
cal  progress. 

As  the  head  of  a  party  which  had  effected  a  rev 
olution  in  government,  Jefferson's  first  care  was  to 
reconcile  his  opponents  to  Republican  rule.  The  in 
augural  address  emphasized  the  principles  upon 
which  all  republican  governments  must  be  based.  It 
is  often  said  that  these  principles  might  have  been 
uttered  by  Washington  with  equal  propriety  —  as 
good  Federalist  doctrine.  This  is  to  mistake  the 
significance  of  the  revolution  which  had  occurred. 
A  party  had  triumphed  which  Federalists  firmly  be 
lieved  inimical  to  all  government.  The  announce 
ment  that  the  fundamental  principles  to  which  all 
Americans  were  attached  would  guide  the  new  Ad 
ministration  had  a  meaning  which  it  would  not  have 
had  if  uttered  by  a  Federalist  President.  So  far  did 
Jefferson  lean  in  holding  out  the  olive  branch  that 
he  ran  the  risk  of  minimizing  the  revolution  of  1800. 


130          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

To  say  that  "  every  difference  of  opinion  is  not  a 
difference  of  principle.  We  are  all  Republicans,  we 
are  all  Federalists,"  was  to  contradict  his  often  ex 
pressed  conviction  that  his  party  had  saved  the  coun 
try  from  monarchy. 

Aside  from  such  generalities  as  that  wise  govern 
ment  consists  in  restraining  men  from  injuring  one 
another  and  leaving  them  free  to  regulate  their  own 
pursuits,  the  inaugural  address  contains  no  declara 
tion  of  purpose  or  policies.  No  such  reticence  marks 
Jefferson's  private  letters,  which  are,  indeed,  the 
best  expression  of  his  political  philosophy.  Nowhere 
is  the  governing  purpose  of  his  Administration 
stated  more  clearly  than  in  a  letter  written  just  be 
fore  his  inauguration.  "  Let  the  general  government 
be  reduced  to  foreign  concerns  only,  and  let  our 
affairs  be  disentangled  from  those  of  all  other  na 
tions,  except  as  to  commerce,  which  the  merchants 
will  manage  the  better  the  more  they  are  left  free  to 
manage  for  themselves,  and  our  general  govern 
ment  may  be  reduced  to  a  very  simple  organization 
and  a  very  unexpensive  one,  —  a  few  plain  duties  to 
be  performed  by  a  few  servants." 

The  first  and  most  troublesome  task  of  the  Ad 
ministration  was  to  select  these  few  servants.  Even 
in  naming  the  heads  of  departments,  the  President 
experienced  some  embarrassment,  for,  while  Madison 
accepted  readily  the  Secretaryship  of  State  and  Al 
bert  Gallatin  that  of  the  Treasury,  the  naval  port 
folio  went  begging.  Robert  Smith,  of  Maryland,  was 
finally  persuaded  to  accept  the  post.  Two  New  Eng- 
landers,  Henry  Dearborn  and  Levi  Lincoln,  became 


JEFFERSONIAN  REFORMS  131 

Secretary  of  War  and  Attorney-General  respectively. 
Far  more  difficult  was  the  distribution  of  the  lesser 
federal  offices.  Had  Jefferson  been  free  to  follow 
his  own  inclination,  he  would  probably  have  made 
few  removals,  even  though  such  a  course  would  have 
seemed  somewhat  inconsistent  with  his  belief  that 
Federalists  were  monarchists  at  heart.  He  yielded 
slowly  and  reluctantly  to  the  demands  of  his  par 
tisans  for  their  share  of  the  offices  ;  but  he  professed 
to  look  forward  with  joy  to  that  state  of  things 
when  the  only  questions  concerning  a  candidate 
shall  be,  Is  he  honest?  Is  he  capable?  Is  he  faithful 
to  the  Constitution? 

The  embarrassment  of  the  President  was  all  the 
greater  because  removals  from  office  were  likely  to 
defeat  his  policy  of  conciliating  the  Federalists ;  and 
because  the  bestowal  of  offices  was  likely  to  alienate 
some  local  faction,  as  in  New  York,  where  the  Clin 
tons  and  the  Livingstons  were  fighting  the  faction  led 
by  Burr.  Once  started  on  the  policy  of  removal,  the 
descent  was  easy.  The  point  of  equilibrium  between 
the  parties  was  soon  passed.  By  the  end  of  Jeffer 
son's  second  term  of  office,  the  civil  service  was  as 
preponderatingly  Republican  as  it  had  been  Federal 
ist  in  1800.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  Jefferson 
opened  the  door  to  the  spoils  system  ;  but  it  should 
be  stated  also  that  he  endeavored  to  make  fitness  a 
qualification  for  office.  The  charge  that  offices  were 
given  indiscriminately  to  "wild  Irishmen"  and 
French  refugees,  is  not  sustained  by  the  facts.  On 
the  whole  Jefferson's  appointments  were  not  infe 
rior  in  character  to  those  of  his  predecessors.  The 


132          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

vicious  aspects  of  the  spoils  system  did  not  appear 
for  a  generation. 

As  an  opposition  party  the  Republicans  had  al 
ways  declaimed  vociferously  against  the  powers 
wielded  by  the  President.  Jefferson  sincerely  wished 
to  avoid  what  he  termed  the  monarchical  tendencies 
of  his  predecessors  ;  and  as  an  earnest  of  his  inten 
tions  he  abandoned  not  only  levees  but  also  the 
practice  of  addressing  Congress  in  a  speech,  since 
Republicans  held  this  custom  a  reprehensible  imi 
tation  of  the  British  speech  from  the  throne.  Yet 
with  characteristic  indirection,  Jefferson  assigned 
other  reasons  for  substituting  a  written  message  for 
the  usual  personal  address.  "  I  have  had  principal 
regard,"  said  he,  "  to  the  convenience  of  the  Legis 
lature,  to  the  economy  of  their  time,  to  their  relief 
from  the  embarrassment  of  immediate  answers,  on 
subjects  not  yet  fully  before  them,  and  to  the  bene 
fits  thence  resulting  to  public  affairs."  It  is  highly 
probable  that  Jefferson  had  his  own  convenience  also 
in  mind,  for  he  was  not  a  ready  nor  an  impressive 
speaker. 

The  keynote  of  the  reforms  which  the  President 
suggested  tactfully  to  Congress  was  economy.  It 
was  to  effect  a  reduction  of  the  debt,  indeed,  that 
Jefferson  had  called  Gallatin  to  the  head  of  the 
Treasury.  Eight  years  later  he  wrote :  "  The  dis 
charge  of  the  debt  is  vital  to  the  destinies  of  our 
government;  we  shall  never  see  another  President 
and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  making  all  other  ob 
jects  subordinate  to  this."  By  laborious  calculation 
Gallatin  reached  the  conclusion  that  if  17,300,000 


JEFFERSONIAN   REFORMS  133 

were  set  aside  each  year,  the  debt,  principal  and  in 
terest,  could  be  discharged  within  sixteen  years. 
But  the  party  was  clamoring  for  the  reduction  of 
taxes.  The  problem  before  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury  was  how  to  accomplish  these  antithetical  purposes. 
The  most  unpopular  tax  was  unquestionably  the 
excise.  If  this  were  cut  out  and  the  estimated  ap 
propriation  for  the  reduction  of  the  debt  were  made, 
the  Government  would  be  unable  to  live  within  its 
income.  The  only  alternative  was  to  reduce  expendi 
tures.  It  was  at  this  point  that  Jefferson's  "  chaste 
reformation  "  of  the  government  was  to  begin.  Un 
der  the  Federalist  regime,  in  anticipation  of  war  with 
France,  the  expenditures  for  the  army  and  navy 
had  mounted  to  six  millions  of  dollars,  nearly  double 
the  normal  expenditure  of  those  departments.  All 
good  Republicans  would  welcome  a  proposal  to  re 
verse  the  militant  policy  of  the  Federalists,  which, 
indeed,  the  return  of  peace  seemed  to  make  un 
necessary.  It  was  agreed  that  the  expenditures  for 
the  army  and  navy  should  be  kept  below  two  million 
dollars. 

Notwithstanding  Jefferson's  wish  to  avoid  every 
thing  savoring  of  executive  dictation,  he  could  not 
abdicate  his  position  as  leader  of  his  party.  Through 
out  his  first  term,  at  least,  he  was  the  master  mind 
directing  the  policies  of  the  party,  in  ways  which  were 
not  less  effective  because  they  were  personal  and  in 
direct.  The  leadership  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  which  then  overshadowed  the  Senate,  fell  to 
Southern  rather  than  to  Northern  Republicans.  In 
close  touch  with  the  Speaker,  Nathaniel  Macon,  of 


134          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

North  Carolina,  and  with  the  chairman  of  the  Com 
mittee  of  Ways  and  Means,  the  eccentric  John  Ran 
dolph,  of  Roanoke,  the  Administration  scored  com 
paratively  easy  victories  over  the  Federalists  on 
matters  of  financial  policy. 

The  repeal  of  the  Judiciary  Act  of  1801  was  the 
second  task  which  the  President  laid  upon  the  shoul 
ders  of  Congress.  No  act  of  the  outgoing  Adminis 
tration  had  given  greater  offense.  Jefferson  expressed 
a  general  impression  when  he  declared  that  the  Fed 
eralists,  driven  from  the  legislative  and  executive 
branches  of  the  Government,  had  retreated  into  the 
judiciary  as  their  stronghold.  u  There  the  remains 
of  federalism  are  to  be  preserved  and  fed  from  the 
Treasury ;  and  from  that  battery  all  the  works  of  re 
publicanism  are  to  be  beaten  down  and  destroyed." 
But  no  suggestion  of  this  animus  toward  the  Feder 
alist  judges  appeared  in  the  studied  moderation  of 
the  President's  message.  The  President  contented 
himself  with  presenting  a  record  of  the  causes  de 
cided  by  the  courts,  in  order  that  Congress  might 
"  judge  of  the  proportion  which  the  institution  bears 
to  the  business  it  has  to  perform." 

Taking  their  cue  from  the  President,  the  Repub 
lican  leaders  in  Congress  urged  the  repeal  of  the 
Judiciary  Act  on  the  ground  that  the  new  courts  had 
not  justified  their  existence.  Republican  economy 
required  that  unnecessary,  and  therefore  improper, 
institutions  should  be  abolished.  Certain  bolder 
spirits  like  William  Giles,  of  Virginia,  however, 
frankly  admitted  a  fear  of  the  "ultimate  censorial 
and  controlling  power "  of  the  courts  over  all  the 


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JEFFERSONIAN  REFORMS  135 

departments  of  the  Government  —  a  control  "  over 
legislation,  execution,  and  decision,  and  irresponsible 
to  the  people."  In  the  background  of  the  active  mind 
of  this  Virginian  was  hostility  to  the  new  courts  "  be 
cause  of  their  tendency  to  produce  a  gradual  demo 
lition  of  State  Courts."  If  this  last  were  the  real 
reason  for  the  repeal  of  the  act,  consistency  should 
have  led  the  Republicans  to  revise  the  whole  judi 
ciary  system  from  the  Supreme  Court  down.  But  for 
such  radical  action  few,  if  any,  were  prepared.  The 
repealing  act  passed  the  House  by  a  party  vote  of 
fifty-nine  to  thirty-two,  and  was  signed  by  the  Presi 
dent  on  March  8,  1802. 

In  the  course  of  the  acrimonious  debate  over  the 
judiciary,  Federalists  had  challenged  the  constitu 
tional  right  and  power  of  Congress  to  vacate  the 
judgeships,  asserting  that  the  plain  intent  of  the 
Constitution  is  to  place  the  judges  beyond  the  power 
of  Congress  by  prescribing  a  tenure  of  office  during 
good  behavior.  The  challenge  was  disquieting,  for 
with  John  Marshall  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  Republican  reformation  of  the  courts 
might  be  brought  to  naught  by  an  adverse  decision. 
A  supplementary  act  was  therefore  passed  which  pre 
vented  the  Supreme  Court  from  holding  its  usual 
session.  It  was  hoped  that  when  the, court  met  in  the 
following  year,  Federalist  partisanship  would  have 
lost  its  violence. 

Two  obnoxious  acts  of  the  late  Administration  — 
the  Alien  and  the  Sedition  Acts  —  had  expired  by 
limitation.  Congress  suffered  the  Alien  Enemies  Act 
to  remain  upon  the  statute  book,  but  insisted  upon 


136          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

the  repeal  of  the  Naturalization  Act  of  the  year  1798. 
The  time  of  residence  required  of  aliens  before  they 
could  acquire  citizenship  was  again  fixed  at  five 
years.  With  these  rather  meager  performances,  the 
reforms  of  the  Republicans  came  to  an  end. 

Perhaps  none  of  the  last  appointments  of  John 
Adams  had  so  exasperated  his  successor  as  that  of 
John  Marshall  as  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
Jeff erson  had  an  invincible  repugnance  for  Marshall ; 
and  the  feeling  was  cordially  reciprocated.  Between 
these  men  there  were  temperamental  differences  as 
wide  as  the  ocean.  Moreover,  Jefferson  entertained 
the  belief  that  all  appointments  made  by  Adams 
after  the  results  of  the  election  were  known  were  nul 
lities,  on  the  theory  that  a  retiring  President  might 
not  bind  his  successor.  Two  years  later,  in  1803, 
in  the  famous  case  of  Marbury  v.  Madison,  the 
Supreme  Court,  speaking  through  the  Chief  Justice, 
took  sharp  issue  with  the  President.  William  Mar- 
bury  had  applied  to  the  court  for  a  mandamus  to 
compel  Madison,  Secretary  of  State,  to  deliver  his 
commission  as  justice  of  the  peace,  which,  it  was 
alleged,  had  been  duly  signed  and  sealed,  but  never 
delivered.  The  Supreme  Court  held  that  Marbury 
was  entitled  to  his  commission.  "To  withhold  his 
commission,  therefore,"  said  Marshall,  "  is  an  act 
deemed  by  the  Court  not  warranted  by  law,  but  vio- 
lati  ve  of  a  legal  vested  right."  Let  President  Thomas 
Jefferson  take  notice  of  his  constitutional  obliga 
tions. 

The  case  of  Marbury  v.  Madison,  however,  has  a 
much  deeper  significance  for  constitutional  history. 


JEFFERSONIAN  REFORMS  137 

Having  asserted  the  right  of  Marbury  to  his  com 
mission,  the  court  disappointed  expectations  by  re 
fusing  to  issue  the  writ  of  mandamus,  on  the  ground 
that  the  power  to  issue  such  writs  was  not  conferred 
by  the  Constitution  upon  the  Supreme  Court  as  part 
of  its  original  jurisdiction.  And  as  the  Judiciary  Act 
of  1789  had  conferred  this  authority,  the  court  was 
impelled  to  declare  this  provision  of  the  act  unwar 
ranted  by  the  Constitution  and  therefore  void.  For 
the  first  time  the  Supreme  Court  asserted  its  power 
to  pronounce  an'  act  of  Congress  repugnant  to  the 
Constitution  not  to  be  law,  but  void  and  of  no  effect. 
In  substantiating  its  position,  the  court  did  not  in 
quire  into  the  difficult  question  whether  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution  intended  or  expected  the  national 
judiciary  to  exercise  this  authority.  It  was  enough 
for  the  purposes  of  the  court  that  the  Constitutioi 
was  the  supreme  and  paramount  law  of  the  land, 
established  by  the  people  of  the  United  States.  The 
Constitution  defines  and  limits  the  powers  of  govern 
ment:  it  must  then  control  any  legislative  act  repug 
nant  to  it.  "  Certainly  all  those  who  have  framed 
written  constitutions  contemplate  them  as  forming 
the  fundamental  and  paramount  law  of  the  nation, 
and,  consequently,  the  theory  of  every  such  govern 
ment  must  be,  that  an  act  of  the  legislature,  repug 
nant  to  the  constitution,  is  void." 

With  equal  certitude  the  court  declared  that  it 
was  the  province  and  duty  of  the  judiciary  to  say 
what  the  law  is.  "  Those  who  apply  the  rule  to  par 
ticular  cases,  must  of  necessity  expound  and  inter 
pret  that  rule.  If  two  laws  conflict  with  each  other, 


138          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

the  courts  must  decide  on  the  operation  of  each." 
So  if  a  law  stood  in  opposition  to  the  Constitution, 
the  court  must  decide  which  of  these  conflicting 
rules  governs  the  case.  "  This  is  of  the  very  essence 
of  judicial  duty."  Moreover,  the  judges  may  not  shut 
their  eyes  to  the  Constitution  and  see  only  the  law, 
for  they  are  bound  by  oath  to  administer  justice  not 
according  to  the  laws  alone,  but  "  agreeably  to  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States." 
"  Thus,  the  particular  phraseology  of  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  confirms 'and  strengthens 
the  principle,  supposed  to  be  essential  to  all  written 
constitutions,  that  a  law  repugnant  to  the  Constitu 
tion  is  void ;  and  that  courts,  as  well  as  other  de 
partments,  are  bound  by  that  instrument." 

On  two  other  occasions  the  hostility  of  the  Re 
publican  Administration  provoked  a  trial  of  strength 
with  the  Federalist  judiciary.  The  impeachment  in 
1804  of  John  Pickering,  District  Judge  in  New 
Hampshire,  on  charges  of  intoxication  and  habits 
unfitting  him  for  his  duties,  amounted  to  little  short 
of  a  tragedy.  When  the  trial  opened,  Judge  Picker 
ing  did  not  appear,  but  representations  made  by  his 
son  showed  beyond  a  doubt  that  he  was  and  had 
been  for  two  years  of  unsound  mind.  To  convict  a 
man  of  misdemeanors  for  which  he  was  not  morally 
responsible  seemed  a  travesty  on  justice.  Yet  there 
was  no  other  constitutional  device  for  removing  him. 
Though  Pickering  never  appeared  in  person,  the 
managers  for  the  House  pressed  the  prosecution ;  and 
rather  than  leave  the  administration  of  justice  to  a 
demented  judge,  the  Senate  pronounced  the  unhappy 


JEFFERSONIAN  REFORMS  139 

man  "  guilty  as  charged,"  and  resolved  that  he 
should  be  removed  from  office. 

On  the  same  day  that  the  Senate  reached  this 
monstrous  decision,  March  12,  1804,  the  House 
voted  to  impeach  Justice  Samuel  Chase,  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  While  the  defiant  words  of  Chief 
Justice  Marshall  in  the  Marbury  case  were  still 
rankling  in  Jefferson's  bosom,  Justice  Chase  had 
gone  out  of  his  way  to  attack  the  Administration,  in 
addressing  a  grand  jury  at  Baltimore.  The  repeal 
of  the  Judiciary  Act,  he  had  declared,  had  shaken 
the  independence  of  the  national  judiciary  to  its 
foundations.  "  Our  republican  Constitution,"  said 
he,  "  will  sink  into  a  mobocracy  —  the  worst  of  all 
possible  governments."  To  appreciate  the  effect  of 
this  partisan  outburst  upon  the  President,  one  must 
recall  that  Chase  was  the  judge  who  had  presided  at 
the  trials  of  Fries  and  of  Callender,  and  who  had 
left  the  bench  to  electioneer  for  John  Adams  in  the 
campaign  of  1800.  Jefferson  immediately  wrote  to 
Nicholson,  who  was  managing  Pickering's  impeach 
ment,  raising  the  question  whether  "  this  seditious 
and  official  attack  on  the  principles  of  our  Constitu 
tion  "  ought  to  go  unpunished. 

Such  was  Jefferson's  way  of  initiating  the  measures 
of  the  Administration.  His  supporters  in  the  House 
were  not  over-eager  to  take  up  the  gauntlet,  but  as 
usual  the  wishes  of  the  President  prevailed.  The 
management  of  the  impeachment  of  Chase  fell  to 
John  Randolph,  who  was  as  ill-fitted  by  tempera 
ment  for  the  difficult  task  as  a  man  could  be.  In 
stead  of  impeaching  Chase  for  his  indiscretion  at 


140          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Baltimore,  Randolph  dragged  into  the  indictment 
his  conduct  on  the  bench  during  the  trials  of  Fries 
and  of  Callender,  and  certain  errors  in  law  which  he 
was  alleged  to  have  committed.  The  effect  of  these 
latter  items  was  to  range  all  the  bench  on  the  side 
of  Chase,  for  if  a  mere  mistake  in  judgment  was  a 
proper  ground  of  impeachment,  no  judge  was  safe 
in  his  tenure.  Justice  Chase  secured  some  of  the 
best  legal  talent  in  the  country  to  conduct  his 
defense ;  and  the  trial  assumed  from  the  outset 
a  spectacular  character  from  the  personalities  in 
volved. 

The  managers  of  the  impeachment  were  far  from 
consistent  in  their  conception  of  the  nature  of  im- 
peachable  offenses.  Randolph,  Campbell,  and  Giles 
held  that  an  impeachment  was  "  a  kind  of  inquest 
into  the  conduct  of  an  officer  merely  as  it  regards 
his  office,"  rather  than  a  criminal  prosecution.  A 
judge,  in  short,  might  be  removed  for  a  mistake  in 
the  administration  of  the  law.  Nicholson  rejected 
this  theory,  contending  that  impeachment  was  essen 
tially  a  criminal  prosecution  which  aimed  at  not  only 
the  removal  but  also  the  punishment  of  the  offender. 
Yet  the  managers  had  not  specified  any  offense 
which  could  be  called  a  "  high  crime  "  or  "  misde 
meanor"  within  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution. 
The  counsel  for  Justice  Chase,  on  the  other  hand, 
held  consistently  to  the  position  that  a  judge  might 
not  be  impeached  or  removed  from  office  for  any 
thing  short  of  an  indictable  offense,  an  offense  in 
dictable  under  the  known  law  of  the  land. 

From  the  first,  the  legal  counsel  for  the  accused 


JEFFERSONIAN  REFORMS  141 

were  more  than  a  match  for  the  managers.  Ran 
dolph's  erratic  course  culminated  in  an  impassioned 
but  incoherent  speech  which  closed  the  argument  for 
the  prosecution  and  left  the  outcome  hardly  in  doubt. 
Not  one  of  the  articles  of  impeachment  received  the 
two-thirds  majority  which  was  necessary  to  convict. 
The  eighth  article,  which  touched  upon  the  real 
provocation  for  the  trial,  —  the  harangue  at  Balti 
more,  —  received  the  highest  vote ;  but  nearly  one 
fourth  of  the  Republican  Senators  refused  to  sustain 
the  managers.  The  acquittal  of  Chase  was,  therefore, 
a  judgment  against  Randolph.  He  never  recovered 
his  lost  prestige  as  the  leader  of  his  party  in  the 
House.  Jefferson  could  accept  Randolph's  downfall 
with  equanimity,  but  not  the  failure  of  the  impeach 
ment.  Years  afterward  he  wrote  bitterly  that  im 
peachment  was  "an  impracticable  thing,  a  mere 
scarecrow."  From  this  time  on,  said  he,  the  judges 
held  office  without  any  sense  of  responsibility,  led 
"  by  a  crafty  chief -judge  who  sophisticates  the  law  to 
his  mind  by  the  turn  of  his  own  reasoning." 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

Although  the  general  histories  contain  much  that  is  important 
for  an  understanding  of  the  administrations  of  Jefferson,  the 
authority  par  excellence  is  Henry  Adams,  History  of  the  United 
States  of  America  (9  vols.,  1889-91).  Chapters  i-vi  of  the  first 
volume  contain  an  excellent  description  of  American  society  about 
1800;  but  for  the  details  of  social  and  economic  life  the  reader  will 
turn  to  McMaster.  A  briefer  account  of  the  Jeffersonian  regime 
may  be  found  in  Channing,  The  Jeffersonian  System,  1801-1811 
(in  The  American  Nation,  vol.  12,  1906).  Henry  Adams  has  also 
contributed  two  biographies  to  this  period:  Life  of  Albert  Gallatin 
(1878),  and  John  Randolph  (1882).  The  Federalist  point  of  view 


142          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

is  admirably  presented  in  S.  E.  Morison,  The  Life  and  Letters  of 
Harrison  Gray  Otis  (2  vols.,  1913).  The  larger  biographies  of 
Jefferson  are:  H.  S.  Randall,  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson  (3  vols., 
1858),  commonly  referred  to  as  the  standard  biography,  though 
exceedingly  partisan;  G.  Tucker,  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson  (2  vols., 
1837);  and  James  Parton,  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson  (1874). 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE    PURCHASE    OF    THE    PROVINCE    OF 
LOUISIANA 

NOT  a  war  cloud  was  in  the  sky  when  Jefferson 
took  the  oath  of  office.  The  European  calm,  to  be 
sure,  proved  to  be  only  a  lull  in  the  tempest  of  war 
which  was  to  rage  fifteen  years  longer ;  but  no  man 
could  have  cast  the  horoscope  of  Europe  in  that  age 
of  storm  and  stress.  The  times  seemed  auspicious 
for  the  Republican  program  of  retrenchment  and 
economy.  Jefferson  was  so  sanguine  of  continued 
peace  that  he  would  have  been  glad  to  lay  up  all 
seven  of  the  frigates  which  then  constituted  the  navy 
in  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Potomac,  where  "  they 
would  be  under  the  immediate  eye  of  the  department, 
and  would  require  but  one  set  of  plunderers  to  take 
care  of  them."  Peace  was  his  passion,  he  frankly 
avowed.  He  would  have  been  glad  to  banish  all  the 
paraphernalia  of  war.  Yet  within  three  months  the 
United  States  was  at  war  with  an  insignificant  Medi 
terranean  power  and  menaced  by  France  from  an 
unexpected  quarter. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1801,  the  Pasha  of  Tripoli, 
me  of  the  Barbary  powers  which  for  years  had  preyed 
upon  the  commerce  of  the  Mediterranean,  declared 
war  upon  the  United  States  by  cutting  down  the  flag 
staff  at  the  residence  of  the  American  consul.  Euro 
pean  states  had  purchased  immunity  for  their  com- 


144          UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 

merce  by  paying  tribute  to  these  rapacious  pirates; 
and  the  United  States  had  followed  the  custom. 
The  Pasha  of  Tripoli,  however,  was  dissatisfied  with 
the  American  tribute,  a  paltry  eighty-three  thousand 
dollars,  and  demanded  more.  The  other  Barbary 
powers  threatened  to  make  common  cause  with  him. 
Anticipating  trouble,  Jefferson  had  sent  a  small 
squadron  to  the  Mediterranean  even  before  the  dra 
matic  act  of  the  Pasha  at  the  American  consulate ; 
and  hostilities  began  on  August  1  with  the  capture 
of  a  corsair  by  the  schooner  Enterprise.  Therewith 
Jefferson's  dreams  of  a  navy  for  coast  defense  only 
vanished  in  thin  air. 

Contrary  to  all  expectations,  the  Tripolitan  War 
dragged  on  for  four  years,  causing  the  peace-loving 
Administration  no  end  of  embarrassment.  So  far 
from  reducing  expenditures,  Gallatin  was  obliged  to 
devise  new  ways  and  means  for  an  ever-increasing 
naval  force.  An  additional  duty  of  two  and  one  half 
per  cent  was  laid  on  all  imports  which  paid  an  ad 
valorem  duty,  and  the  proceeds  were  kept  as  a  sepa 
rate  treasury  account.  The  Administration  was  sen 
sitive  to  the  charge  that  it  was  guilty  of  the  very 
crime  which  it  had  accused  the  Federalists  of  com 
mitting  —  "  taxing  the  industry  of  our  fellow  citizens 
to  accumulate  treasure  for  war."  With  superior 
wisdom  and  a  higher  sense  of  popular  responsibility, 
the  Republicans,  so  the  argument  ran,  were  estab 
lishing  a  "  Mediterranean  Fund,"  so  that  the  people 
might  know  in  detail  just  what  was  collected  and 
spent  for  war  purposes. 

Tales  of  individual  daring  go  far  to  relieve  the 


THE   PURCHASE  OF  LOUISIANA     145 

tedious  record  of  ineffective  blockades  and  bombard 
ments  during  the  war.  Two  exploits  left  an  imper 
ishable  memory  in  the  minds  of  contemporaries  — 
Lieutenant  Stephen  Decatur's  destruction  of  the 
captured  frigate  Philadelphia,  under  the  guns  of 
the  forts  in  the  harbor  of  Tripoli ;  and  the  tragic 
death  of  Lieutenant  Richard  Somers  and  the  crew 
of  the  Intrepid,  as  they  were  about  to  blow  up  the 
Tripolitan  gunboats  in  the  harbor.  These  deeds  of 
heroic  adventure  created  the  very  last  tiling  that  Jef 
ferson  desired,  something  closely  akin  to  an  esprit  de 
corps  in  the  new  navy. 

It  was  not  so  much  the  onslaughts  of  Commodore 
Preble's  gunboats,  however,  as  an  unexpected  attack 
on  his  eastern  frontier  which  brought  the  Pasha  to 
terms.  His  exiled  brother,  Hamet  Caramelli,  had 
fallen  in  with  an  American  adventurer  by  the  name  of 
Eaton,  who  persuaded  him  to  join  an  expedition 
against  their  common  enemy.  With  a  motley  army 
they  marched  across  the  desert  from  Egypt  and  fell 
upon  the  outlying  domains  of  the  Pasha.  That  astute 
monarch  then  yielded  to  persuasion.  On  June  3, 1805, 
with  many  protestations  that  he  was  being  subjected 
to  humiliating  terms,  he  agreed  to  live  on  terms  of 
peace  with  the  United  States  and  renounce  all  claim 
to  tribute ;  but  his  injured  feelings  were  salved  by  a 
ransom  of  sixty  thousand  dollars  for  the  crew  of  the 
Philadelphia.  The  Pasha's  brother  was  rewarded  with 
a  pension  of  two  hundred  dollars  a  year. 

At  the  same  moment  that  hostilities  broke  out  in 
the  Mediterranean,  Jefferson  heard  disquieting  news 
from  France.  "  There  is  considerable  reason  to  appre- 


146          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

hend,"  he  wrote  to  Monroe,  on  May  26,  1801,  "that 
Spain  cedes  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas  to  France, 
It  is  a  policy  very  unwise  in  both,  and  very  ominous 
to  us."  What  Jefferson  apprehended  was,  indeed, 
an  accomplished  fact.  On  October  1,  1800,  the  day 
after  Joseph  Napoleon,  in  the  name  of  his  brother, 
set  his  hand  to  the  Treaty  of  Morfontaine,  which  re 
stored  amicable  relations  between  France  and  the 
United  States,  General  Berthier  under  instructions 
from  Napoleon  signed  at  Ildefonso  a  treaty  which 
restored  Louisiana  to  France.  In  effect,  as  Mr.  Henry 
Adams  says,  the  second  treaty  undid  the  work  of 
the  first. 

The  retrocession  of  Louisiana,  long  desired  and 
sought  by  the  Directory,  was  regarded  by  Talleyrand 
as  a  diplomatic  triumph  of  first  magnitude.  The  price, 
easily  paid  by  one  who  held  Italy  under  his  iron 
heel,  was  a  kingdom  in  Tuscany  for  the  young  Duke 
of  Parma,  nephew  and  son-in-law  of  Charles  IV  of 
Spain.  The  gateway  to  this  vast  province  was  New 
Orleans,  and  the  avenue  of  approach  lay  by  way  of 
Santo  Domingo,  once  an  important  French  colony, 
but  now  under  the  rule  of  Toussaint  L'Ouverture. 
Before  Talleyrand's  dream  of  a  revived  colonial  em 
pire  in  the  heart  of  the  North  American  continent 
could  be  realized,  this  "  gilded  African  "  must  be 
removed  and  Santo  Domingo  restored  to  its  former 
position  as  the  center  of  the  French  West  Indies. 
The  conquest  of  a  negro  republic  surely  could  not 
be  a  difficult  undertaking  for  one  who  had  humbled 
Austria  011  the  battlefields  of  northern  Italy.  In 
November,  1801,  Napoleon  dispatched  Leclerc  with 


THE  PURCHASE  OF  LOUISIANA     147 

an   army  of  ten  thousand   men  to    recover   Santo 
Domingo. 

Jefferson  was  thoroughly  alarmed  at  the  news  of 
Leclere's  expedition.  "  Every  eye  in  the  United 
States/'  he  wrote,  "  is  now  fixed  on  this  affair  of 
Louisiana.  Perhaps  nothing  since  the  Revolutionary 
War  has  produced  more  uneasy  sensations  through 
the  body  of  the  nation."  No  discerning  man  could 
mistake  the  significance  of  the  expedition  ;  the  French 
troops  would  proceed  to  Louisiana  after  finishing 
their  work  in  Santo  Domingo.  The  retrocession  of 
Louisiana,  in  short,  as  Jefferson  said,  completely  re 
versed  all  the  political  relations  of  the  United  States. 
Hitherto,  from  the  Republican  point  of  view,  France 
had  been  our  natural  friend.  Henceforth,  as  the  pos 
sessor  of  New  Orleans,  through  which  three  eighths 
of  the  produce  of  the  West  passed  to  market,  she 
became  a  natural  and  habitual  enemy.  "France 
placing  herself  in  that  door,"  wrote  Jefferson  to 
Livingston,  "assumes  to  us  the  attitude  of  defiance. 
The  impetuosity  of  her  temper,  the  energy  and  rest 
lessness  of  her  character,  placed  in  a  point  of  eternal 
friction  with  us,  and  our  character,  .  .  .  these  cir 
cumstances  render  it  impossible  that  France  and  the 
United  States  can  continue  long  friends  when  they 
meet  in  so  irritable  a  position.  .  .  .  The  day  that 
France  takes  possession  of  New  Orleans  fixes  the 
sentence  which  is  to  restrain  her  forever  within  her 
low-water  mark.  It  seals  the  union  of  two  nations 
who  in  conjunction  can  maintain  exclusive  possession 
of  the  ocean.  From  that  moment  we  must  marry 
ourselves  to  the  British  fleet  and  nation." 


148          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Even  as  he  expressed  his  apprehensions  to  Living 
ston,  then  Minister  to  France,  Jefferson  suggested 
ways  and  means  for  averting  the  clash  of  conflicting 
interests.  If  France  was  bent  on  possessing  and  hold 
ing  Louisiana,  might  she  not  make  concessions  for 
the  sake  of  retaining  the  friendship  of  the  United 
States  ?  Livingston  was  to  sound  the  French  Govern 
ment  to  ascertain  whether  it  would  entertain  the 
idea  of  ceding  the  Island  of  New  Orleans  and  the 
Floridas.  "  We  should  consider  New  Orleans  and 
the  Floridas  as  equivalent  for  the  risk  of  a  quarrel 
with  France  produced  by  her  vicinage,"  he  assured 
Livingston. 

What  the  Western  world  had  to  fear  from  the 
French  occupation  of  Louisiana  appeared  in  Novem 
ber,  1802,  when  Governor  Clai borne,  of  the  Missis 
sippi  Territory,  reported  that  the  right  of  deposit  at 
New  Orleans  had  been  withdrawn.  The  act,  to  be 
sure,  was  that  of  the  Spanish  intendant,  but  every 
one  believed  that  it  had  been  incited  by  France. 
The  people  of  the  Western  waters,  particularly  in 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  were  outraged  and  de 
manded  instant  war  against  the  aggressor.  Even  in 
Congress  a  war  party  raised  its  head.  During  all  this 
popular  clamor  the  self-restraint  of  the  Administra 
tion  was  admirable.  The  annual  message  ignored  the 
existence  of  the  war  party  and  referred  to  the  cession 
of  Louisiana  in  colorless  language  worthy  of  Talley 
rand. 

The  Administration  was  not,  however,  without  a 
well-considered  policy.  In  January,  at  the  instance 
of  party  leaders,  an  appropriation  of  two  million 


THE  PURCHASE  OF  LOUISIANA     149 

dollars  was  voted  by  Congress  "to  defray  any  expenses 
in  relation  to  the  intercourse  between  the  United 
States  and  foreign  nations  " ;  and  James  Monroe  was 
appointed  Minister  Extraordinary  to  France  and 
Spain,  to  aid  Livingston  and  Pinckney  in  "  enlarg 
ing  and  more  effectually  securing  our  rights  and  in 
terests  in  the  river  Mississippi  and  in  the  territories 
eastward  thereof." 

Meantime,  Napoleon's  colonial  schemes  had  re- 
ceived  a  decisive  check.  The  transfer  of  Louisiana 
had  been  delayed  by  the  opposition  of  Godoy,  who 
had  returned  to  royal  favor  in  Spain ;  Leclerc's  in 
vading  army  had  been  worn  away  by  the  attrition  of 
incessant  war  with  the  negroes ;  a  second  army  had 
been  decimated  by  yellow  fever ;  and  finally  Leclerc 
himself  had  succumbed  to  the  dread  destroyer,  leav 
ing  the  remnants  of  the  French  troops  to  their  fate. 
Without  the  most  extraordinary  exertions,  Santo 
Domingo  was  lost;  and  what  was  Louisiana  without 
the  island  which  was  the  very  heart  of  the  projected 
colonial  system  ?  The  First  Consul  was  almost  ready 
to  abandon  a  project  which  after  all  had  originated 
in  Talleyrand's  brain  rather  than  in  his  own.  What 
he  sought  was  a  fair  pretext  to  cover  his  retreat  from 
failure. 

Livingston  plied  the  French  Ministers  with  argu 
ments  to  prove  that  it  was  good  policy  to  put  the 
Americans  in  possession  of  the  Island  of  Orleans. 
One  day,  while  he  was  repeating  the  old  story,  Tal 
leyrand  suddenly  asked  what  he  would  give  for  the 
whole  of  Louisiana.  For  the  moment  Livingston  was 
nonplussed,  and  declined  to  make  any  offer.  Talley- 


150          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

rand  repeated  his  question  and  Livingston  replied 
that  twenty  millions  of  francs  would  be  a  fair  price, 
if  France  would  pay  the  spoliation  claims  of  Ameri 
can  citizens  since  the  Treaty  of  1800.  Talleyrand 
demurred :  the  sum  was  too  small.  Thereupon  Liv 
ingston  promised  to  advise  with  Monroe  who  was  ex 
pected  soon. 

Monroe,  as  it  happened,  arrived  on  this  very  day. 
On  the  following  day  Livingston  learned  casually 
from  Marbois,  a  minister  who  stood  very  close  to  the 
First  Consul,  that  Napoleon  had  named  a  hundred 
million  francs  and  the  payment  of  the  American 
spoliation  claims  as  the  price  of  Louisiana.  Further 
conversation  elicited  the  information  that  Napoleon 
would  consider  an  offer  of  sixty  million  francs  with 
claims  amounting  to  twenty  millions  more.  For  a 
fortnight  the  two  envoys,  at  the  risk  of  losing  every 
thing,  sought  to  secure  better  terms.  But  the  First 
Consul  would  not  abate  his  demands.  On  May  2, 
1803,  Livingston  and  Monroe  set  their  signatures  to 
a  treaty  by  which  Napoleon  agreed  to  sell  a  province 
of  which  he  was  not  in  possession  and  which  he  had 
contracted  never  to  alienate.  The  price  to  be  paid 
was  the  sum  last  named,  amounting  in  American 
figures  to  $11,250,000.  The  amount  of  outstand 
ing  claims  which  the  United  States  agreed  to  assume 
was  estimated  at  $3,750,000.  After  signing  his  name 
to  the  treaty,  Livingston  rose  and  shook  hands  with 
Monroe  and  Marbois.  "We  have  lived  long,'*  he 
said  with  emotion,  "  but  this  is  the  noblest  work  of 
our  lives." 

In  less  exalted  moments,  Livingston  and  Monroe 


THE  PURCHASE  OF  LOUISIANA     151 

may  well  have  experienced  some  disquietude  at  what 
they  had  done.  The  instructions  given  to  Monroe 
contemplated  no  more  extensive  purchase  than  New 
Orleans  and  West  Florida,  at  a  sum  not  exceeding 
$10,000,000.  The  envoys  had  set  out  to  purchase  a 
tract  of  land  which  controlled  the  delta  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  :  they  had  acquired  an  empire  beyond  the 
Mississippi  whose  limits  they  did  not  know,  at  a 
price  which  exceeded  their  allowance  by  $5,000,000. 
Besides,  it  was  not  at  first  believed  that  West  Flor 
ida  was  included  in  this  purchase.  Livingston  was 
keenly  disappointed,  until  on  narrower  examination 
he  found,  in  the  words  of  the  treaty,  evidence  which 
satisfied  him  that  France  —  to  quote  Mr.  Henry 
Adams  —  "  had  actually  bought  West  Florida  with 
out  knowing  it  and  had  sold  it  to  the  United  States 
without  being  paid  for  it."  The  words  on  which  he 
founded  his  theory  were  those  which  retroceded 
Louisiana  "  with  the  same  extent  as  it  now  has  in 
the  hands  of  Spain,  and  that  it  had  when  France 
possessed  it,  and  such  as  it  should  be  according  to 
the  treaties  subsequently  entered  into  between  Spain 
and  the  other  States."  Monroe  soon  adopted  Living 
ston's  view  and  pressed  it  upon  the  President. 

The  news  of  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  reached 
the  United  States  in  the  latter  part  of  June  and 
occasioned  much  rejoicing  among  stanch  Republicans 
of  the  Middle  and  Southern  States.  The  people  east 
of  the  Alleghanies  were  densely  ignorant  about  this 
Spanish  province,  but  they  sensed  in  a  vague  way 
that  its  possession  by  a  power  like  France  would 
have  dragged  the  United  States  into  the  maelstrom 


152          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

of  European  politics.  The  Federalists  of  the  Eastern 
States  looked  askance  at  this  as  at  every  act  of  the 
Administration  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  without  know 
ing  anything  about  this  vast  domain  beyond  the 
Mississippi.  The  President  himself  was  not  much 
better  informed  about  Louisiana.  In  a  report  to 
Congress  he  undertook  to  put  together  such  informa 
tion  as  he  could  cull  from  books  of  travel  and  pick 
up  by  hearsay.  His  credulity  led  him  into  some 
amazing  statements.  A  thousand  miles  up  the  Mis 
souri,  he  stated  soberly,  there  was  a  salt  mountain, 
one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  long  and  forty-five 
miles  in  width,  composed  of  solid  rock  salt,  without 
any  trees  or  even  shrubs  on  it.  He  would  not  have 
believed  the  tale  but  for  the  testimony  of  travelers 
who  had  shown  specimens  of  the  salt  to  the  people 
of  St.  Louis.  Federalist  newspapers  made  merry 
over  the  President's  discovery.  "  Can  this  be  Lot's 
wife  ?  "  asked  one  editor. 

But  Jefferson  had  already  taken  steps  to  dispel 
general  ignorance  about  the  Far  West.  Securing 
from  Congress  an  appropriation  for  an  expedition 
among  the  Missouri  Indians,  ostensibly  to  extend 
the  external  commerce  of  the  United  States,  he  com 
missioned  his  private  secretary,  Meriwether  Lewis, 
and  William  Clark,  brother  of  George  Rogers  Clark, 
to  undertake  one  of  the  most  important  explorations 
in  American  annals.  With  a  body  of  picked  men, 
Lewis  and  Clark  made  their  way  to  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Missouri,  and  passed  the  winter  of  1804—05 
among  the  Mandans.  In  the  following  spring  and 
summer  they  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the 


THE   PURCHASE  OF  LOUISIANA     153 

waters  of  the  Columbia.  Here  they  spent  a  second 
winter,  and  then  began  their  arduous  return,  by  way 
of  the  Great  Divide,  the  Yellowstone  River,  and  the 
Missouri,  to  St.  Louis.  The  journals  of  the  members 
of  this  expedition  are  a  remarkable  record  of  per 
sonal  adventures  and  scientific  observations.  It  was 
not  until  1814,  however,  that  the  details  of  this  ex 
pedition  were  given  to  the  public. 

Meantime,  Lieutenant  Zebulon  Montgomery  Pike 
had  won  immediate  fame  by  publishing  an  account 
of  two  thrilling  expeditions  into  the  Far  West.  On 
the  first  expedition  Pike  traced  the  upper  course  of 
the  Mississippi  almost  to  its  source ;  on  the  second, 
begun  soon  after  his  return  to  St.  Louis  in  1806,  he 
followed  the  course  of  the  Arkansas  to  the  peak 
which  bears  his  name.  His  attempt  to  explore  the 
headwaters  of  the  Rio  Grande,  which  he  mistook 
for  the  Red  River,  led  to  his  capture  by  the  Spanish 
authorities.  After  a  roundabout  journey  through 
Mexico  and  Texas,  he  was  released  on  the  Louisiana 
frontier. 

Unexpected  as  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  was  to 
the  Administration,  President  Jefferson  was  quick 
to  appreciate  the  vast  importance  of  the  province  to 
the  United  States.  "  Giving  us  the  sole  dominion  of 
the  Mississippi,"  he  wrote,  "  it  excludes  those  bick 
erings  with  foreign  powers,  which  we  know  of  a 
certainty  would  have  put  us  at  war  with  France  im 
mediately  :  and  it  secures  to  us  the  course  of  a  peace 
able  nation."  At  the  same  time  he  was  equally  quick 
to  see  that  the  acquisition  would  give  "  a  handle  to 
the  malcontents."  To  his  intimates  he  avowed  with 


154          UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 

the  utmost  frankness  that  the  Administration  had 
exceeded  its  constitutional  powers.  The  Constitution, 
he  conceived,  did  not  contemplate  the  acquisition  of 
territory  not  included  within  the  limits  fixed  by  the 
Treaty  of  1783.  Yet  he  was  firmly  convinced  of  the 
practical  necessity  of  ratifying  the  treaty  of  pur 
chase.  The  only  way  out  of  the  dilemma,  he  thought, 
was  frankly  "  to  rely  on  the  nation  to  sanction  an 
act  done  for  its  great  good,  without  its  previous 
authority." 

Never  doubting  that  so  benevolent  a  purpose 
would  be  cordially  approved,  Jefferson  drafted  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  authorizing  the  ac- 

O 

quisition  of  Louisiana  and  providing  for  its  govern 
ment.  To  his  surprise,  leading  Republicans  received 
his  proposal  with  indifference,  not  to  say  with  cool 
ness.  Nicholas  thought  that  the  power  to  acquire 
territory  by  treaty  might  fairly  be  inferred  from  the 
Constitution,  and  advised  the  President  not  to  run 
the  risk  of  turning  the  Senate  against  the  treaty  by 
raising  constitutional  scruples.  In  much  distress  of 
spirit  Jefferson  replied  that  to  assume  by  free  con 
struction  the  power  to  acquire  territory  was  to  make 
blank  paper  of  the  Constitution.  If  the  treaty-making 
power  could  be  stretched  in  this  fashion,  then  there 
was  no  limit  to  its  extent.  But  finding  that  his  party 
did  not  share  his  scruples,  Jefferson  abandoned  his 
amendment  to  the  Constitution,  "  confiding  that  the 
good  sense  of  our  country  will  correct  the  evil  of 
construction  when  it  shall  produce  ill  effects." 
Hamilton  in  all  the  pride  of  triumphant  Federalism 
nad  never  gone  further  than  this. 


THE   PURCHASE   OF  LOUISIANA      155 

The  debates  in  Congress  over  the  treaty  are  full 
of  interest  to  the  student  of  constitutional  law.  The 
treaty  fairly  bristled  with  controversial  points.  The 
exigencies  of  politics  played  havoc  with  consistency. 
Parties  seemed  to  have  changed  sides.  Federalists 
borrowed  state-rights  arguments  without  a  tremor; 
and  Republicans  employed  the  language  of  central 
ization  with  Federalist  facility.  Federalists  from 
New  England  looked  beyond  the  immediate  issue 
and  discerned  the  inevitable  economic  as  well  as 
political  consequences  of  westward  expansion.  The 
men  who  would  have  naturally  populated  the  vacant 
lands  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont 
would  inevitably  seek  this  "  new  paradise  of  Louisi 
ana,"  observed  a  New  England  pamphleteer.  Jef- 
fersonian  Democracy  rather  than  Federalism  would 
become  the  creed  of  these  transplanted  New  Eng- 
landers,  if  Ohio  were  a  fair  example  of  future 
Western  Commonwealths.  Moreover,  as  these  new 
States  would  in  all  probability  enter  the  Union  as 
slaveholding  communities,  they  would  further  impair 
the  influence  of  the  Eastern  States  in  the  National 
Government.  Even  the  remnant  of  the  Federalist 
party  in  the  South  opposed  the  purchase  of  Louisi 
ana,  fearing  that  the  Atlantic  States  would  be  de 
pressed  in  influence  by  the  formation  of  great  States 
in  the  West. 

Upon  one  great  constitutional  principle,  both  Fed 
eralists  and  Republicans  were  disposed  to  agree : 
that  the  United  States  had  the  power  to  acquire 
foreign  territory,  either  by  treaty  or  conquest.  Sen 
ator  Tracy,  of  Connecticut,  conceded  this  point,  but 


156          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

denied  that  the  inhabitants  of  an  acquired  territory 
could  be  admitted  into  the  Union  and  be  made  citi 
zens  by  treaty.  In  providing  that  "  the  inhabitants 
of  the  ceded  territory  shall  be  incorporated  in  the 
Union,"  the  Administration  had  exceeded  its  consti 
tutional  authority.  The  consent  of  all  the  States  was 
necessary  to  admit  into  the  Union.  Senator  Picker 
ing,  of  Massachusetts,  held  the  same  view.  "  I 
believe  the  assent  of  each  individual  State  to  be 
necessary,"  said  he,  "  for  the  admission  of  a  foreign 
country  as  an  associate  in  the  Union,  in  like  manner 
as  in  a  commercial  house  the  consent  of  each  mem 
ber  would  be  necessary  to  admit  a  new  partner  into 
the  company."  To  this  line  of  argument,  Taylor,  of 
Virginia,  replied  that  the  words  of  the  treaty  did 
not  contemplate  the  erection  of  the  ceded  territory 
as  a  State,  but  its  incorporation  as  a  Territory. 

On  October  17,  1803,  the  Senate  ratified  the 
treaty  by  a  vote  of  twenty-four  to  seven.  Two  con 
stitutional  principles  seemed,  therefore, to  be  decided: 
the  Government  had  a  constitutional  right  to  acquire 
foreign  territory ;  and  the  treaty-making  power  could 
incorporate  —  whatever  that  expression  might  mean 
—  such  territory  into  the  Union.  A  third  matter  of 
policy  had  yet  to  be  determined :  what  powers  had 
Congress  over  the  new  territory?  Two  courses  lay 
open,  either  to  make  Louisiana  a  part  of  the  "terri 
tory  "  which  the  Constitution  gives  Congress  power 
to  "dispose  of,"  or  to  hold  the  province  as  a  depend 
ency  apart  from  other  organized  Territories.  The 
provisional  act  which  Congress  adopted  pointed  in 
this  latter  direction,  since  it  authorized  the  Presi- 


THE  PURCHASE   OF  LOUISIANA      157 

dent  to  take  possession  of  the  province  and  concen 
trated  all  powers,  civil  and  military,  in  the  hands  of 
agents  to  be  appointed  by  him.  When  objection  was 
made  that  such  despotic  authority  was  incompatible 
with  the  Constitution,  Rodney,  of  Maryland,  de 
clared  in  the  House  of  Representatives  that  Con 
gress  had  a  power  in  the  Territories  which  it  could 
not  exercise  in  the  States,  and  that  the  limitations 
of  power  found  in  the  Constitution  were  applicable 
to  States  and  not  to  Territories.  The  Republicans 
were  making  rapid  progress  in  learning  the  vocabu 
lary  of  Federalism. 

It  is  one  of  the  ironies  of  history  that  the  province 
over  which  parties  battled  with  so  much  display  of 
legal  profundity  was  not  yet  in  the  possession  of  the 
First  Consul.  Six  months  after  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty,  in  the  old  Cabildo  at  New  Orleans, 
Laussat  received  from  the  Spanish  governor  the 
keys  of  the  city  and  took  possession  of  the  province 
in  the  name  of  his  master.  For  twenty  days  the 
Tricolor  floated  over  the  Place  d'Armes,  emblem  of 
the  shadowy  French  tenure.  On  December  20,  it,  in 
turn,  gave  place  to  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  as  Louisi 
ana  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  last  of  its  rulers, 
the  puissant  young  republic. 

In  the  following  year  Congress  divided  the  prov 
ince,  giving  to  the  southern  part,  the  Territory  of 
Orleans,  which  contained  most  of  the  inhabitants,  a 
separate  territorial  government,  and  annexing  the 
sparsely  settled  upper  part  to  the  Indiana  Territory. 
The  Act  of  1804  was  roundly  abused  because  it  gave 
to  the  President  the  appointment  of  all  officers  in 


158          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

the  Territory  of  Orleans,  even  the  appointment  of 
the  legislative  council  of  thirteen.  By  the  treaty,  it 
was  pointed  out,  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana  were 
guaranteed  all  "  the  rights,  advantages,  and  immu 
nities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States."  Was  not 
representative  government  one  of  these  privileges? 
The  obvious  answer  was  the  unpreparedness  of  the 
Spanish  inhabitants  for  Anglo-American  institutions. 
To  the  Western  American  who  floated  down  the 
Mississippi,  past  the  cotton-fields  and  sugar  planta 
tions  cultivated  by  African  negroes,  and  who  landed 
his  cargo  on  the  levee  at  New  Orleans,  among  the 
motley  throngs,  province  and  city  seemed  like  a 
foreign  country,  and  the  inhabitants  aliens  in  speech 
and  habits.  From  the  buildings,  with  their  many 
arcades  and  balconies  and  varied  coloring,  to  the 
courts  of  law  where  the  Code  Napoleon,  introduced 
by  Laussat,  added  confusion  to  the  Spanish  law,  the 
atmosphere  of  New  Orleans  was  that  of  a  city  of  the 
Old  World,  where  one  civilization  was  superimposed 
upon  an  older.  Men  bred  in  the  traditions  of  the 
English  law  might  reasonably  doubt  whether  the 
people  of  Louisiana  were  ready  for  self-government. 

Before  the  new  territorial  government  could  be 
organized,  a  remonstrance  had  been  drawn  up  by 
the  people  of  Louisiana  and  forwarded  by  three  com 
missioners  with  all  possible  dispatch  to  Washing 
ton.  In  the  following  year  (1805),  Congress  so  far 
yielded  to  the  complaints  of  the  people  of  Louisiana 
as  to  authorize  an  elective  assembly  and  to  hold  out 
the  promise  of  eventual  statehood. 

But  what  were  the  bounds  of  Louisiana?  No  one 


THE  PURCHASE   OF  LOUISIANA     159 

knew  with  certitude.  The  letters  of  Livingston  and 
Monroe  had  convinced  Jefferson  that  Louisiana  in 
cluded  at  least  West  Florida,  and  for  two  years  he 
sought  by  every  diplomatic  device  to  wrest  from 
Spain  a  confirmation  of  this  shadowy  title.  That 
Spain  did  not  intend  to  cede  West  Florida  and  that 
France  had  no  expectation  of  receiving  it  seems  clear 
enough  from  the  instructions  to  Laussat.  What  he 

O 

handed  over  to  the  American  representative  was 
Louisiana,  with  the  Rio  Bravo  and  the  Iberville  as 
boundaries.  With  some  show  of  right,  Jefferson 
might  have  occupied  Texas  ;  he  preferred,  however, 
to  chase  his  phantom  claim  to  Florida.  For  Texas 
nobody  then  cared,  but  the  Floridas  were  coveted  by 
Southern  planters. 

In  a  letter  written  soon  after  the  signing  of  the 
Louisiana  Treaty,  Robert  Livingston  relates  a  sug 
gestive  conversation  which  he  had  with  Talleyrand. 
"  What  are  the  eastern  bounds  of  Louisiana?1'  asked 
Livingston  rather  naively.  "  I  do  not  know,"  replied 
Talleyrand  ;  "  you  must  take  it  as  we  received  it." 
"But  what  did  you  mean  to  take?"  Livingston  in 
sisted.  "  I  do  not  know,"  was  the  reply.  "  Then  you 
mean  that  we  shall  construe  it  our  own  way?"  "I 
can  give  you  no  direction,"  replied  the  astute  French 
man.  "  You  have  made  a  noble  bargain  for  your' 
selves,  and  I  suppose  you  will  make  the  most  of  it." 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  history  of  the  Barbary  Wars  is  well  told  by  G.  W.  Allen, 
Our  Nawj  and  the  Barbary  Corsairs  (1905),  and  by  C.  O.  Pauilin, 
Commodore  John  Rodyers  (1910).  The  investigations  of  Henry 


160          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Adams  in  foreign  archives  enabled  him  to  treat  the  diplomatic 
history  of  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  with  great  fullness.  F.  A.  Ogg, 
The  Opening  of  the  Mississippi  (1904),  and  J.  K.  Hosmer,  The 
Louisiana  Purchase  (1902),  contain  brief  accounts  of  the  acquisition 
of  the  province.  The  actual  route  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expe 
dition  may  be  traced  with  the  aid  of  O.  D.  Wheeler,  The  Trail  of 
Lewis  and  Clark,  1804-1904  (1904).  The  constitutional  aspects 
of  the  Louisiana  Treaty  and  the  subsequent  legislation  for  the 
territory  are  discussed  at  length  by  Adams,  and  less  satisfactorily 
by  Schouler  and  Von  Hoist.  Channing,  The  Jeffersonian  System, 
1801-1811  (1906),  contains  a  good  account  of  the  whole  episode. 
The  problem  of  the  original  boundaries  is  discussed  by  F.  E. 
Chadwick,  The  Relations  of  the  United  States  and  Spain  (1909). 


CHAPTER   IX 

FACTION   AND    CONSPIRACY 

DOWN  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
people  of  New  England  possessed  a  greater  degree 
of  social  solidarity  than  any  other  section  of  the 
Union.  Descended  from  English  stock,  imbued  with 
common  religious  and  political  traditions,  and  bound 
together  by  the  ties  of  a  common  ecclesiastical  pol 
ity,  they  cherished,  as  Jefferson  expressed  it,  "  a  sort 
of  family  pride  "  which  existed  nowhere  else  between 
people  of  different  States.  In  New  England,  there 
were  elements  of  political  and  religious  dissent,  to 
be  sure,  but  the  domination  of  the  Congregational 
clergy  and  the  magistracy  was  hardly  less  complete 
in  the  year  1800  than  fifty  years  earlier.  New  Eng 
land  was  governed  by  "  the  wise,  the  good,  and  the 
rich."  All  the  forces  of  education,  property,  religion, 
and  respectability  were  united  in  the  maintenance  of 
the  established  order  against  the  assaults  of  democ 
racy.  New  England  Federalism  was  not  so  much  a 
body  of  political  doctrines  as  a  state  of  mind.  Ab 
horrence  of  the  forces  liberated  by  the  French  Rev 
olution  was  perhaps  the  dominating  emotion.  De 
mocracy  seemed  an  aberration  of  the  human  mind, 
which  was  bound  everywhere  to  produce  the  same 
results  in  society.  Jacobinism  was  the  inevitable 
outcome.  "  The  principles  of  democracy  are  every 
where  what  they  have  been  in  France,"  wrote  Ames. 


162  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

"  Democracy  is  a  troubled  spirit,  fated  never  to  rest, 
and  whose  dreams,  if  it  sleeps,  present  only  visions 
of  hell." 

In  1801,  New  England  was  in  bitter,  irreconcil 
able  opposition  to  the  National  Administration.  The 
situation  was  fraught  with  grave  possibilities.  Jef 
ferson  himself  looked  forward  to  "  an  uneasy  govern 
ment,"  if  the  whole  body  of  New  England  continued 
in  opposition  *  to  Republican  principles.  Ordinary 
political  opposition  was  to  be  expected,  of  course; 
but  a  sectional  opposition,  fortified  by  a  social  soli 
darity  like  that  of  New  England,  was  a  menace  to 
the  Union.  From  the  moment  when  he  took  the  oath 
of  office,  Jefferson  directed  his  best  energies  to  the 
Republican  conquest  of  New  England.  It  was  a  pol 
icy  dictated  not  only  by  partisan  considerations,  but 
also  by  the  highest  instincts  of  statesmanship.  The 
fair-minded  historian  is  bound  to  record  that  the 
Jefferson ian  party  in  this  period  of  its  history  was, 
in  spite  of  all  its  inconsistencies,  a  potent  agency  in 
the  maintenance  of  the  Union. 

The  first  conquest  of  the  Republicans  was  that  of 
Rhode  Island  in  the  first  year  of  the  new  Adminis 
tration.  The  President  was  deeply  gratified  by  what 
he  called  "the  regeneration  of  Rhode  Island,"  inter 
preting  the  event  as  "  the  beginning  of  that  resur 
rection  of  the  genuine  spirit  of  New  England.'' 
Vermont,  he  prophesied,  would  next  emerge  from 
under  the  yoke  of  the  Federalist  hierarchy ;  and 
the  fall  election  verified  his  prediction.  Elsewhere 
the  contest  was  more  stubborn  and  prolonged,  but  the 
Federalists  noted  with  alarm  that  the  Republican 


FACTION  AND  CONSPIRACY         163 

vote  was  increasing  everywhere.  By  the  end  of  Jef 
ferson's  first  term,  the  number  of  Republican  voters 
in  New  England  very  nearly  equaled  that  of  their 
opponents. 

The  ranks  of  the  Republican  party  were  recruited 
largely  from  the  rural  districts,  where  hostility  to 
the  mercantile  and  moneyed  classes  was  most  bitter. 
It  was  the  old  alignment  of  the  men  of  little  or  no 
personal  property  against  the  prosperous  and  well- 
to-do  classes.  From  this  point  of  view  the  Republican 
movement  was  an  attack  upon  the  privileged  orders, 
an  attempt  to  break  down  the  social  hierarchy  of 
New  England.  Closely  connected  with  the  political 
movement  was  also  the  struggle  of  the  Baptists  and 
the  Methodists  to  secure  religious  freedom  in  Mas 
sachusetts  and  Connecticut.  The  dissenters  looked 
to  Jefferson  as  their  natural  leader ;  and  the  bitter 
opposition  of  the  Congregational  clergy  to  the  spread 
of  democracy  was  due  to  their  persistent,  and  no 
doubt  sincere,  belief  that  dissent  and  democracy  were 
manifestations  of  the  same  radical  and  destructive 
spirit. 

The  rising  tide  of  Republicanism  and  the  increas 
ing  popularity  of  the  Administration  cast  the  Fed 
eralist  leaders  into  the  deepest  gloom.  The  annexa 
tion  of  Louisiana  was  regarded  as  a  mortal  blow, 
since  it  imperiled  the  ascendency  of  New  England 
in  the  Union,  and  New  England  was  the  stronghold 
of  Federalism.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1804T 
most  of  the  Federalist  members  of  Congress  from 
New  England  were  agreed  in  thinking  that  a  crisis 
was  approaching.  Democracy  was  about  to  triumph 


164  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Dver  the  forces  of  law  and  order.  The  only  question 
was  how  to  save  their  section,  where  the  ravages  of 
Jacobinism  could  yet  be  stayed.  There  was  but  one 
answer,  from  the  point  of  view  of  Senator  Timothy 
Pickering.  The  people  of  the  Eastern  States  could 
not  reconcile  their  habits,  views,  and  interests  with 
those  of  the  South  and  West :  therefore,  let  them 
withdraw  from  the  Union  and  form  a  Northern 
Confederation  Plumer,  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
Tracy  and  Griswold,  of  Connecticut,  were  in  hearty 
agreement  with  this  view.  Pickering  then  put  his 
project  before  the  members  of  the  coterie  of  Fed 
eralists  in  Massachusetts,  which  was  generally 
known  as  the  "  Essex  Junto."  As  the  confederacy 
shaped  itself  in  Pickering's  imagination,  it  would  of 
necessity  include  New  York,  which  would  act  as  a 
barrier  to  the  insidious  inroads  of  Southern  Jaco 
binism  ;  but  Massachusetts  should  initiate  the  move 
ment. 

Replying  for  his  intimates  in  the  Essex  Junto, 
George  Cabot  put  aside  the  project,  not  as  in  any 
wise  morally  reprehensible,  —  on  the  contrary,  he 
thought  separation  desirable,  —  but  as  impracticable. 
The  people  of  New  England  were  not  aware  of  their 
danger  and  therefore  not  prepared  for  so  radical  a 
movement.  The  only  chance  for  a  successful  revolu 
tion,  Cabot  thought,  would  be  "  a  war  with  Great 
Britain  manifestly  provoked  by  our  rulers."  Picker 
ing  and  Griswold  then  turned  to  New  York  for  sup 
port  and  to  Aaron  Burr. 

The  Vice-President  was  at  this  time  without  po 
litical  influence  in  the  Administration,  and  without 


FACTION  AND  CONSPIRACY         165 

credit,  either  morally  or  politically.  In  New  York, 
the  Livingstons  and  the  Clintons,  whom  he  had  mor 
tally  offended,  were  determined  to  drive  him  from 
the  party.  At  first,  Burr  was  inclined  to  give  way : 
he  even  applied  to  the  President  for  an  executive  ap 
pointment  ;  but  this  resource  failing,  he  determined 
to  fight  his  enemies  to  the  bitter  end.  In  February, 
1804,  he  was  nominated  for  governor  by  a  group  of 
his  friends  in  the  legislature,  in  opposition  to  the 
Clinton  faction.  It  was  well  known  that  many  Fed 
eralists  would  support  his  candidacy,-  At  this  crucial 
moment,  Pickering  and  Griswold  sought  out  Burr  as 
an  ally.  As  Governor  of  New  York,  they  intimated, 
he  would  be  in  a  strategic  position  and  could  take 
the  lead  in  the  secession  of  the  Northern  States. 
His  leadership  in  the  movement,  in  short,  was  to  be 
the  price  of  Federalist  support  at  the  polls.  But  the 
shifty  Burr  would  not  commit  himself  further  than 
to  promise  an  administration  satisfactory  to  the  Fed 
eralists.  The  conspirators  had  to  rest  content  with 
this  vague  assurance  and  to  count  on  Burr's  ambi 
tion,  and  his  desire  to  be  revenged  upon  his  enemies, 
to  bind  him  to  their  cause. 

Meantime,  Alexander  Hamilton  was  straining 
every  nerve  to  prevent  the  Federalists  from  indors 
ing  the  man  who  stood  in  the  way  of  his  own  ambi 
tion  and  whom  he  believed  to  be  a  dangerous  and 
unprincipled  character.  Some  vestige  of  prudence 
kept  the  party  from  committing  itself  openly  to 
Burr,  but  its  vote  was  cast  for  him.  Burr  carried  his 
old  stronghold,  New  York  City,  but  he  was  beaten 
elsewhere  in  the  State.  The  hopes  of  the  Federal- 


166          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

ists  were  shattered  ;  the  conspirators  were  con 
founded  ;  and  the  bubble  of  a  Northern  Confederacy 
vanished. 

The  immediate  consequences  of  this  political  epi 
sode  were  personal.  Hamilton  had  again  thwarted 
the  ambitions  and  incurred  the  deadly  enmity  of  an 
embittered  political  desperado.  A  challenge  followed 
and  was  accepted.  On  a  summer  morning,  July  11, 
1804,  at  Weehawken  across  the  Hudson,  the  rivals 
faced  each  other  for  the  last  time.  Hamilton  threw 
away  his  fire  :  Burr  aimed  with  murderous  intent, 
and  Hamilton  fell  mortally  wounded.  From  this  mo 
ment  Burr  was  a  marked  man  and  an  outcast  from 
respectable  society  in  the  East.  The  newer  society 
of  the  West,  less  sensitive  in  such  matters,  thought 
none  the  less  of  a  man  who  had  shot  his  foe  in  a  fair 
fight.  Thither  Burr  betook  himself  when  his  term  of 
office  expired., 

As  the  presidential  election  approached,  the  He- 
publicans  determined  to  prevent  any  recurrence  of 
the  accident  which  had  so  nearly  seated  Burr  in  the 
President's  chair.  This  resolve  took  the  form  of  a 
constitutional  amendment  which  provided  that  presi 
dential  electors  should  designate  on  distinct  ballots 
the  persons  voted  for  as  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent.  To  change  the  Constitution  in  this  wise  was  a 
delicate  matter.  No  part  of  the  work  of  the  Federal 
Convention  had  been  more  difficult  than  to  reconcile 
the  small-State  party  to  the  mode  provided  for  the 
election  of  a  President.  The  final  settlement  had 
been  accepted  only  in  the  expectation  that  in  most 
cases  the  electoral  college  would  fail  to  elect,  and 


FACTION  AND  CONSPIRACY         167 

that  a  choice  would  then  be  made  by  the  House  of 
Representatives,  where  the  small  States  would  have 
an  equal  voice  with  the  large  States.  To  remove  the 
chances  of  an  election  by  the  House  was  to  upset  the 
original  compromise  and  to  increase  the  importance 
of  the  large  States  in  the  initial  election. 

Another  consequence  would  follow  the  proposed 
change.  The  office  of  Vice-President  would  be  de- 

O 

graded.  Roger  Griswold  clearly  foresaw  this  eventu 
ality.  "  The  office  will  generally  be  carried  into  the 
market,"  said  he,  "  to  be  exchanged  for  the  votes 
of  some  large  States  for  President ;  and  the  only  cri 
terion  which  will  be  regarded  as  a  qualification  for 
the  office  of  Vice-President  will  be  the  temporary  in 
fluence  of  the  candidate  over  the  electors  of  his 
State."  Notwithstanding  these  and  many  less  obvi 
ous  objections,  the  amendment  was  adopted  by  a 
party  vote  in  Congress  and  promptly  ratified  by  thir 
teen  out  of  the  sixteen  States  before  the  fall  elections. 
The  campaign  of  1804  was  uneventful.  The  con 
gressional  caucus  of  the  Republican  party  dropped 
Burr  as  a  candidate  and  nominated  George  Clinton, 
of  New  York.  Jefferson  was  the  unanimous  choice 
of  his  party.  The  depressed  Federalists  supported 
Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  of  South  Carolina, 
and  Rufus  King,  of  New  York,  as  their  candidates. 
Jefferson  was  triumphantly  reflected  with  the  loss 
of  only  two  States,  Connecticut  and  Delaware,  and 
of  two  electoral  votes  in  Maryland.  Well  might  he 
exult  at  the  discomfiture  of  his  enemies.  "  The 
two  parties,"  he  wrote  to  Volney,  "are  almost  melted 


168 


UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 


Below  the  calm  surface  of  Republican  politics, 
however,  dangerous  counter-currents  swirled.  For  a 
time  the  controversy  over  the  Yazoo  land  claims 
seemed  likely  to  be  a  reef  on  which  Republican 
unity  would  be  shattered.  Both  the  United  States 
and  Georgia  laid  claim  to  the  great  Western  tract 


The  Yazoo-GeoTgi 
Laml  Controversy 


which  is  now  occupied  by  the  States  of  Mississippi 
and  Alabama.  But  Georgia  with  a  stronger  prima 
•facie  case  evinced  little  regard  for  the  claims  of  the 
Federal  Government.  In  1795,  while  a  mania  for 
land  speculation  was  sweeping  over  the  country,  the 
legislature  yielded  to  corrupt  influences  and  sold 
some  thirty-five  million  acres  in  the  disputed  terri 
tory  for  the  sum  of  $500,000  to  four  laud  compa 
nies.  In  the  following  year,  the  people  of  Georgia 
rose  in  their  wrath,  turned  out  the  corrupt  legisla 
tors,  and  forced  the  passage  of  a  rescinding  act. 
Meantime,  sales  had  been  made  by  the  Yazoo  specu 
lators  to  guileless  purchasers,  who  now  appealed  to 


FACTION  AND  CONSPIRACY         169 

Congress  for  relief.  In  1798,  Congress  enacted  a  law 
providing  for  commissioners  who  should  confer  with 
Georgia  regarding  these  conflicting  claims.  At  the 
same  time  the  Territory  of  Mississippi  was  organ 
ized. 

Such  was  the  status  of  the  Yazoo  land  claims 
when  Jefferson  became  President.  It  fell  to  him  to 
appoint  the  federal  commissioners.  They  wrestled 
manfully  with  the  perplexing  details  of  the  contro 
versy,  and  in  1802  reported  what  they  believed  to 
be  a  fair  settlement  of  the  claims  of  all  parties. 
Georgia  was  to  cede  her  Western  lands  to  the 
United  States  in  return  for  a  payment  of  $1,250,- 
000  and  an  agreement  on  the  part  of  the  Federal 
Government  to  extinguish  all  Indian  titles  within 
her  limits  as  soon  as  might  be.  In  the  course  of  time 
this  Western  territory  was  to  be  admitted  as  a  State. 
Five  million  acres  were  to  be  set  aside  to  satisfy  the 
claims  of  those  who  had  suffered  loss  by  the  rescind 
ing  act  of  Georgia. 

The  morbid  imagination  of  John  Randolph  could 
see  nothing  but  jobbery  in  this  proposal  to  satisfy 
claims  which  had  been  fraudulently  obtained  from 
the  Legislature  of  Georgia.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  Randolph's  hatred  for  Madison,  who  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  federal  commission,  influenced  his  subse 
quent  action.  On  two  occasions,  in  1804  arid  again 
in  1805,  he  assailed  the  proposed  compromise,  and 
twice  he  secured  a  postponement,  though  he  could 
not  defeat  the  bill  which  embodied  the  conclusions 
of  the  commission.  From  this  time  on  Randolph 
was  never  more  than  an  uncertain  ally  of  the  Ad- 


170          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

ministration.  The  few  politicians  who  still  followed 
his  lead  were  styled  rather  contemptuously  "  Quids." 
Even  Republicans  with  slender  classical  training 
grasped  the  significance  of  a  tertium  quid.  Yet  Ran 
dolph  was  still  a  power  in  the  House. 

The  Yazoo  affair  dragged  on  for  years.  In  1810, 
a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  gave  aid  and  com 
fort  to  the  opposition.  In  the  case  of  Fletcher  v. 
jPec^the  court  held  that  the  original  Act  of  1795, 
conveying  the  Yazoo  grants,  was  a  contract  within 
the  meaning  of  the  Constitution  which  might  not  be 
impaired  by  subsequent  legislation.  It  was  not  until 
1814  chat  Congress  voted  $8,000,000  to  the  claimants 
under  this  act  and  so  settled  one  of  the  most  obsti 
nate  controversies  in  the  history  of  Congress. 

In  the  fall  of  1805,  Jefferson  seemed  about  to 
realize  what  had  been  the  object  of  his  diplomatic 
endeavors  ever  since  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana.  In 
timations  came  from  Talleyrand  that  the  Floridas 
might  be  obtained  by  purchase  if  the  United  States 
would  prevail  upon  Spain  to  refer  the  whole  dispute 
to  Napoleon.  On  December  3,  1805,  he  sent  a  mes 
sage  to  Congress  which  seemed  to  break  completely 
with  all  Jeffersonian  precedents.  It  recounted  the 
failure  of  negotiations  with  Spain,  and  spoke  sternly 
of  the  depredations  committed  in  the  new  Territo 
ries  by  Spanish  officers  and  soldiers.  The  Adminis 
tration  had  found  it  necessary  to  order  the  troops 
on  the  frontier  to  be  in  readiness  to  repel  future  ag 
gressions.  Some  of  the  injuries  committed  admitted 
of  a  peaceable  remedy.  Some  of  them  were  "  of  a 
nature  to  be  met  by  force  only,  and  all  of  them  may 


FACTION  AND  CONSPIRACY         171 

lead  to  it."  Coupled  with  these  admonitions  were 
suggestions  for  the  fortification  of  seaports,  the 
building  of  war-vessels,  and  the  organization  of  the 
militia. 

Coming  from  the  pen  of  one  who  had  written  that 
peace  was  his  passion  and  who  had  hitherto  avoided 
war  with  Quaker-like  submission,  this  message  caused 
bewilderment  on  all  sides.  The  West,  however,  took 
the  President  literally  and  looked  forward  with  en 
thusiasm  to  a  war  which  was  bound  to  end  in  the 
overthrow  of  Spanish  dominion  in  the  Southwest. 
Three  days  later  a  secret  message  was  delivered  to 
the  House  of  Representatives  announcing  that  Spain 
was  disposed  to  effect  a  settlement  "  so  comprehen 
sive  as  to  remove  as  far  as  possible  the  grounds  of 
future  collision  and  controversy  on  the  eastern  as 
well  as  the  western  side  of  the  Mississippi."  Only  a 
show  of  force  was  needed  "  to  advance  the  object  of 
peace." 

Randolph  for  one  was  thoroughly  disgusted  by 
"  this  double  set  of  opinions  and  principles ";  and 
his  ill-temper  gave  vent  to  biting  invective  when  he 
learned,  that  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Means  he  was  expected  to  propose  an  appropri 
ation  of  $2,000,000  for  the  purchase  of  Florida. 
He  refused  flatly  to  assume  the  responsibility  "  of 
delivering  the  public  purse  to  the  first  cut-throat 
that  demanded  it,"  for  Madison  had  said  in  private 
conversation  that  the  money  was  destined  for  Napo 
leon.  The  opposition  of  Randolph  caused  weeks  of 
delay.  It  was  not  until  March  13  that  Madison  could 
authorize  Armstrong,  minister  to  France,  to  offer 


172          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

$5,000,000  for  Florida  and  Texas.  It  was  then  too 
late.  Either  Armstrong  had  been  misled  or  Napoleon 
had  changed  his  mind :  in  either  case,  the  favorable 
moment  had  passed.  The  purchase  of  Florida  was 
indefinitely  deferred. 

During  these  months,  when  relations  with  Spain 
were  strained  to  the  breaking  point,  Aaron  Burr  was 
weaving  the  strands  of  one  of  the  most  intricate  and 
baffling  intrigues  in  American  history.  Shortly  after 
relinquishing  the  office  of  Vice-President,  Burr  un 
dertook  an  extensive  tour  through  the  West.  In  the 
course  of  his  voyage  down  the  Ohio  he  landed  on 
Blennerhassett's  Island,  which  an  eccentric  Irish 
gentleman  of  that  name  had  transformed  into  an 
estate.  At  Cincinnati  he  was  the  guest  of  Senator 
John  Smith ;  and  there  he  met  also  Jonathan  Day 
ton,  who  had  just  finished  his  term  as  Senator  from 
New  Jersey.  Both  of  these  individuals  played  an  un 
certain  part  in  Burr's  plans.  At  Nashville  he  visited 
General  Andrew  Jackson ;  at  Fort  Massac  he  spent 
four  days  in  close  conference  with  General  James  Wil 
kinson,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Western  army 
—  one  of  the  most  precious  rascals  in  the  annals  of 
the  country ;  and  at  New  Orleans  he  put  himself  in 
touch  with  the  Mexican  Association,  which  had  been 
formed  by  ardent  individuals  who  looked  forward  to 
war  with  Spain  and  the  liberation  of  Mexico. 

To  men  like  Andrew  Jackson  and  Daniel  Clark,  of 
New  Orleans,  whose  loyalty  is  beyond  question,  Burr 
announced  his  purpose  to  devote  his  life  to  the  over 
throw  of  the  Spanish  power  in  America.  It  was  a 
mission  which  commended  itself  to  the  Spanish-hating 


FACTION  AND  CONSPIRACY         173 

people  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Western  news 
papers  announced  that  he  meditated  some  extraordi 
nary  enterprise ;  and  one  editor  hinted  that  he  was 
plotting  a  revolution  which  would  end  in  the  forma 
tion  of  a  separate  government  for  the  region  border 
ing  on  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi. 

Returning  to  the  East,  Burr  left  no  stone  unturned 
in  his  efforts  to  find  funds  to  finance  this  mysteri 
ous  enterprise.  He  was  in  conference  with  Merry, 
the  British  minister,  and  with  Yrujo,  the  Spanish 
minister ;  and  each  received  a  different  impression 
as  to  the  scope  of  his  plans.  At  one  time  Burr 
talked  madly  of  seizing  the  government  at  Wash 
ington.  The  kaleidoscopic  changes  of  his  plans  baffle 
consistent  explanation.  One  thing  only  is  clear :  he 
needed  funds.  These  he  obtained  in  part  from  his 
son-in-law,  Joseph  Alston,  a  wealthy  planter  in  South 
Carolina,  and  in  part  from  the  credulous  Blenner- 
hassett,  who  was  persuaded  to  purchase  a  million 
acres  on  the  Washita  River  in  northern  Louisiana. 
Thither  the  expedition  which  started  out  from  Blen- 
nerhassett's  Island  was  ostensibly  directed.  How  far 
Burr's  plans  went  beyond  the  occupation  of  this  tract 
is  a  matter  of  conjecture.  One  of  Blennerhassett's 
servants  may  inadvertently  have  told  the  truth  when 
he  said  that  they  were  "  going  to  take  Mexico,  one  of 
the  finest  and  richest  places  in  the  whole  world." 

If  Burr  seriously  contemplated  a  filibustering  ex 
pedition  against  Mexico,  he  was  favored  by  circum 
stances.  Spanish  troops  had  taken  up  a  position  east 
of  the  Sabine  River,  on  what  was  American  soil ;  and 
only  an  overt  act  was  needed  to  precipitate  war. 


174          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Every  frontiersman  was  preparing  for  a  tussle  with 
the  hated  Spaniard.  In  the  event  of  war  Burr  knew 
well  enough  that  an  expedition  against  Mexico  would 
be  countenanced  by  the  government  at  Washington. 
Whether  or  no  war  with  Spain  would  occur  depended 
upon  the  cooperation  of  General  Wilkinson,  for  he 
had  been  charged  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  take 
command  of  the  troops  at  New  Orleans  with  as  little 
delay  as  possible  and  "  to  repel  any  invasion  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  east  of  the  river  Sabine, 
or  north  and  west  of  the  bounds  of  what  has  been 
called  West  Florida." 

The  delay  of  Wilkinson  in  following  these  orders 
of  May  6,  1806,  has  been  explained  on  the  supposi 
tion  that  he  was  awaiting  the  development  of  Burr's 
plans.  Be  that  as  it  may,  his  hesitation  was  fatal 
to  the  conspirators.  On  September  27,  the  Spanish 
troops  retired  beyond  the  Sabine,  thus  removing 
an  excellent  pretext  for  war.  From  this  time  on 
Wilkinson's  hand  is  against  Burr.  His  conduct  is 
enveloped  in  an  atmosphere  of  intrigue.  At  one 
moment  he  is  sending  alarmist  dispatches  to  the 
President,  warning  him  against  a  mysterious  expedi 
tion  which  was  being  prepared  —  by  what  authority 
he  professed  not  to  know  —  against  the  Spanish 
province  of  Mexico  ;  at  the  next  moment  he  is  in 
triguing  with  the  Spanish  authorities,  warning  them 
against  Burr  and  assuring  them  of  his  protection.  This 
valuable  information  Wilkinson  thought  was  worth 
about  $111,000  ;  but  his  aid-de-camp  seems  to  have 
returned  empty-handed  from  the  City  of  Mexico.  His 
further  exploits  in  New  Orleans,  which  he  kept  in  a 


FACTION  AND  CONSPIRACY         175 

state  of  perpetual  alarm  and  finally  put  under  mar- 
tial  law,  read  like  a  chapter  from  a  melodrama. 

It  was  not  until  October,  1806,  that  President 
Jefferson  expressed  any  serious  concern  about  Burr's 
intrigues.  Even  then  he  concluded  to  send  only  a 
confidential  agent  to  watch  the  conspirator  and  to 
arrest  him  if  necessary.  In  November,  dispatches 
from  Wilkinson  convinced  the  President  of  the  need 
of  more  summary  action.  On  November  27,  he  issued 
a  proclamation,  stating  that  sundry  persons  were  con 
federating  and  conspiring  together  to  begin  a  mili 
tary  expedition  or  enterprise  against  the  dominions 
of  Spain.  Honest  and  well-meaning  citizens  were 
being  seduced  under  various  pretenses  to  engage  in 
the  criminal  enterprises  of  these  men.  All  faithful 
citizens  and  the  civil  and  military  authorities  were 
therefore  enjoined  to  be  vigilant  in  preventing  the 
expedition  and  in  bringing  the  conspirators  to  pun 
ishment. 

The  President's  proclamation  wrought  a  trans 
formation  in  the  temper  of  the  West.  People  reasoned 
that  the  danger  must  be  greater  than  any  one  had 
suspected.  The  newspapers  began  to  print  wild  stories. 
The  Legislature  of  Ohio  authorized  the  governor  to 
take  proper  measures  to  prevent  acts  hostile  to  the 
United  States.  The  governor  promptly  seized  the 
bateaux  which  were  being  constructed  at  Marietta 
and  called  out  the  militia  to  overpower  Blenner- 
hassett  and  his  followers.  On  the  Virginia  side  of  the 
river,  the  militia  were  in  readiness  for  a  descent  upon 
the  island.  On  the  night  of  December  10,  Blenner- 
hassett  and  a  handful  of  men  left  the  island  in  such 


176          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

boats  as  they  could  find.  Wild  rumors  followed  the 
expedition  as  it  floated  peacefully  down  the  Ohio. 
The  Western  Spy  told  its  readers  that  Blennerhas- 
sett  had  passed  Cincinnati  in  keel  boats  loaded  with 
military  stores ;  that  more  were  to  follow ;  and  that 
twenty  thousand  men  had  been  enlisted  in  an  expe 
dition  against  Mexico,. 

Meantime,  Burr  had  met  with  embarrassing  de 
lays.  The  promised  recruits  had  not  come  in,  si-nce 
war  had  not  been  declared.  Only  two  of  the  five 
boats  which  Jackson  had  agreed  to  build  were  ready. 
Nevertheless,  Burr  left  Nashville  on  December  23, 
as  he  had  planned,  and  on  the  next  day  joined  Blen- 
nerhassett  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland.  The 
combined  strength  of  this  flotilla  which  was  causing 
such  public  consternation  was  nine  bateaux,  carry 
ing  less  than  sixty  men. 

The  voyage  of  the  expedition  down  the  Ohio  and 
the  Mississippi  was  without  incident  until  January 
10,  when  the  expedition  put  into  Bayou  Pierre,  in 
the  Mississippi  Territory.  There  Burr  was  put  under 
arrest  and  brought  before  a  grand  jury.  Luck  again 
favored  him.  As  in  Kentucky,  so  here  the  jurors 
failed  to  find  any  ground  for  indictment.  Neverthe 
less,  the  judge  bound  Burr  over  to  appear  from  day 
to  day.  Holding  this  proceeding  unauthorized  by  law, 
Burr  forfeited  his  bond  and  made  his  escape ;  but  near 
Fort  Stoddert,  he  was  again  apprehended.  On  March 
5,  1807,  he  was  sent  with  a  guard  of  six  men  from 
Fort  Stoddert  to  Richmond,  Virginia. 

The  commitment,  indictment,  and  trial  of  Aaron 
Burr  form  a  fittingly  inconclusive  sequel  to  a  strange 


FACTION  AND  CONSPIRACY         177 

tale  of  intrigue  and  misadventure.  Not  merely  the 
fate  of  the  accused  man,  but  the  personalities  involved, 
gave  a  spectacular  character  to  the  legal  proceedings 
at  Richmond.  Arrayed  as  counsel  on  the  side  of  Burr 
were  three  notable  attorneys  from  Virginia,  and 
Luther  Martin  of  Maryland.  The  foreman  of  the 
grand  jury  was  John  Randolph.  The  chief  witness  for 
the  prosecution  was  General  Wilkinson.  The  presid 
ing  judge  was  Chief  Justice  John  Marshall,  within 
whose  circuit  Blennerhassett's  Island  lay.  And  be 
hind  the  prosecution,  straining  every  nerve  to  secure 
the  conviction  of  the  conspirators,  was  President 
Thomas  Jefferson. 

From  first  to  last  the  Chief  Justice  made  the  task 
of  the  prosecution  exceedingly  difficult  by  a  rigorous 
definition  of  treason.  Treason  involved  an  overt  act, 
he  insisted;  the  actual  levying  of  war  by  an  assem 
bling  of  armed  men.  To  convict  of  treason,  the  testi 
mony  of  two  witnesses  was  required  by  the  Consti 
tution.  Now,  Burr  was  hundreds  of  miles  away  from 
Blennerhassett's  Island  when  the  alleged  overt  act 
of  treason  was  committed.  The  court  would  not  ad 
mit  any  testimony  relative  to  the  conduct  and  declar 
ations  of  Burr  elsewhere  and  subsequent  to  the  trans 
actions  on  Blennerhassett's  Island.  Such  testimony 
was  in  its  nature  merely  corroborative,  the  Chief 
Justice  ruled,  and  inadequate  to  prove  the  overt  act 
in  itself,  and  therefore  irrelevant  until  the  overt  act 
was  proved  by  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses.  On 
September  1,  the  prosecution  abandoned  the  case, 
and  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  not  guilty.  The 
Government  now  sought  to  secure  the  conviction  of 


178  UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Burr  on  the  charge  of  misdemeanor;  but  less  than  a 
week  was  needed  to  reveal  the  weakness  of  the  testi 
mony  put  forward  by  the  prosecution.  On  September 
15,  Burr  was  again  acquitted. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  New  England  conspiracy,  the  Yazoo  controversy,  and  the 
intrigues  of  Burr,  are  admirably  recounted  by  Henry  Adams.  His 
account  may  be  corrected  at  various  points,  however,  by  consult 
ing  W.  F.  McCaleb,  The  Aaron  Burr  Conspiracy  (1903).  A  brief 
account  of  the  intrigues  and  plots  of  this  time  may  be  found  in 
Channing,  The  Jeffersonian  System,  1801-1811  (1906).  The  in 
trigues  of  the  Federalists  in  New  England  have  been  described 
recently  with  new  information  by  S.  E.  Morison,  Life  and  Letters 
of  Harrison  Gray  Otis  (2  vols.,  1913).  Other  biographies  of  impor 
tance  are  H.  C.  Lodge,  Life  and  Letters  of  George  Cabot  (1877); 
James  Parton,  Life  and  Times  of  Aaron  Burr  (1858);  J.  S.  Bassett, 
Life  of  Andrew  Jackson  (2  vols.,  1911).  The  trial  of  Burr  is  de 
scribed  in  popular  fashion  by  F.  T.  Hill,  Decisive  Battles  of  the  Law 
(1907).  The  origin  and  subsequent  history  of  the  Yazoo  affair 
may  be  traced  in  C.  H.  Haskins,  "The  Yazoo  Land  Companies" 
(in  the  American  Historical  Association  Papers,  1891). 


CHAPTER   X 

PEACEABLE    COERCION 

THE  so-called  Peace  of  Amiens  in  1802  proved 
to  be  only  an  interlude  in  the  wars  of  France  with 
Europe.  Within  two  years  hostilities  were  renewed 
which  closed  only  with  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  In  the 
course  of  this  prolonged  conflict  Napoleon  won  and 
lost  for  France  the  ascendency  in  central  and  west 
ern  Europe,  but  Great  Britain  remained  throughout 
mistress  of  the  seas.  The  commerce  of  France  and 
of  Holland  and  Spain,  which  had  become  virtually 
her  dependencies,  was  almost  driven  from  the  seas. 
For  their  foodstuffs  and  colonial  supplies,  more  than 
ever  in  demand  as  war  devastated  the  fields  of  Eu 
rope,  these  nations  had  to  look  to  vessels  flying  neu 
tral  flags.  The  export  trade  of  the  United  States, 
which  had  fallen  from  194,000,000  in  the  year  1801 
to  $55,800,000  in  1803,  rapidly  recovered  until  in 
1805  it  passed  the  high-water  mark  of  the  earlier 
year.  More  than  half  of  this  trade  was  in  products 
of  the  tropics,  for  while  the  direct  trade  between  the 
West  India  colonies  and  Europe  was  forbidden  by 
the  so-called  "Rule  of  1756,"  American  shippers 
carried  on  a  lucrative  traffic  which  was  virtually 
direct.  Products  brought  from  the  West  Indies  to 
American  ports  were  promptly  reshipped  as  part  of 
American  stock  to  European  ports ;  and  the  British 
courts  had  held  that  this  importation  had  broken  the 


180          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

voyage.  When  once  import  duties  had  been  paid  in 
an  American  port,  the  courts  refused  to  inquire  what 
thereafter  became  of  the  cargo  and  whether  in  fact 
rebates  were  given  on  exportation. 

In  midsummer  of  1805  occurred  a  reversal  of 
British  policy.  In  the  case  of  the  Essex,  which  had 
made  the  voyage  from  Charleston  to  London  with 
colonial  produce  from  Martinique,  a  British  admir 
alty  court  ruled  for  the  first  time  that  the  payment 
of  import  duties  was  not  sufficient  proof  of  bonafide 
importation,  because  of  the  practice  in  the  United 
States  of  repaying  duties  on  exportation.  Other 
seizures  followed  that  of  the  Essex,  to  the  consterna 
tion  of  American  shippers.  Insurance  rates  on  car 
goes  were  doubled  and  doubled  again  within  a  year. 
Early  in  1806,  Monroe,  then  Minister  to  England, 
wrote  in  protest  to  the  British  Ministry  that  "  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  vessels  had  been  seized, 
several  condemned,  all  taken  from  their  course,  de 
tained,  and  otherwise  subjected  to  heavy  losses  and 
damages."  But  Monroe  could  not  obtain  any  con 
cession  of  principle  or  promise  of  indemnity. 

The  policy  which  the  Secretary  of  State  was  known 
to  favor  was  that  of  coercing  England  through  re 
strictions  upon  trade.  The  implications  of  this  policy 
were  suggested  by  his  often-quoted  remark  touch 
ing  upon  the  dependence  of  British  manufacturers  : 
"  There  are  three  hundred  thousand  souls  who  live 
by  our  custom :  let  them  be  driven  to  poverty  and 
despair,  and  what  will  be  the  consequences?"  He 
lost  no  opportunity  to  urge  upon  his  party  associates 
the  need  of  passing  retaliatory  legislation  against 


PEACEABLE  COERCION  181 

Great  Britain.  It  was  well  known,  of  course,  that  the 
President  would  support  any  fair  application  of  his 
theory  of  peaceable  coercion. 

At  first  there  was  a  general  disposition  to  try  the 
effect  of  an  embargo ;  but  more  prudent  counsels 
prevailed  when  the  news  of  Trafalgar  reached  Amer 
ica.  Congress  finally  adopted,  in  April,  1806,  a  non 
importation  bill,  which  was  to  become  effective  eight 
months  later.  There  was  some  point  to  Randolph's 
criticism  when  he  declared  it  to  be  "  a  milk-and- 
water  Bill.  A  dose  of  chicken  broth  to  be  taken  nine 
months  hence  "  ;  for  the  act  prohibited  only  the  im 
portation  of  such  English  goods  as  could  be  manu 
factured  in  the  United  States  or  procured  elsewhere. 
Such  a  measure  was  not  likely  to  make  the  manu 
facturers  of  England  quail.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
Administration  was  to  accomplish  what  it  might  by 
direct  negotiation  with  the  British  Ministry,  using 
this  Nicholson  Act  as  a  covert  threat.  Much  against 
his  will,  Jefferson  had  to  nominate  another  envoy 
to  act  with  Monroe.  His  choice  fell  upon  William 
Pinkney,  of  Maryland.  The  friends  of  Madison  were 
not  unwilling  to  humiliate  Monroe,  whose  presiden 
tial  aspirations  might  interfere  with  Madison's  suc 
cession,  for  Jefferson  had  let  it  be  known  as  early  as 
the  summer  of  1805  that  he  did  not  seek  a  reelection. 

A  few  days  after  Congress  adjourned  occurred 
the  Leander  episode.  This  frigate  was  one  of  sev 
eral  British  war  vessels  whose  presence  in  American 
waters  was  a  constant  menace  to  merchantmen  and 
an  insult  to  the  National  Government.  From  time 
to  time  they  appeared  off  Sandy  Hook,  lying  in  wait 


182          UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 

for  American  vessels  which  were  suspected  of  carry 
ing  British  seamen  who  had  fled  from  the  hard  con 
ditions  of  service  on  ships  of  war^An  American 
merchantman  was  likely  at  any  time  to  be  stopped 
by  a  shot  across  her  bow  and  to  be  subjected  to  the 
humiliation  of  a  visit  from  a  search  crew.  On  April 
25,  1806,  the  Leander,  in  rounding  up  a  merchant 
man,  fired  a  shot  which  killed  the  helmsman  of  a 
passing  coasting  sloop.  The  incident  or  accident 
threatened  to  assume  the  proportions  of  a  casus  belli. 
The  practice  of  impressment  was  an  old  grievance 
which  seemed  to  Americans  devoid  of  any  justifica 
tion.  From  the  British  point  of  view  there  was  much 
to  be  said  in  extenuation  of  the  practice.  It  should 
not  be  forgotten  that  Great  Britain  was  locked  in  a 
life-and-death  straggle  with  a  mighty  antagonist,  and 
that  she  had  need  of  every  able  seaman.  Owing  to 
the  rigorous  life  on  board  of  men-of-war,  every  ship's 
crew  was  likely  to  be  depleted  by  desertions  when 
ever  she  touched  at  an  American  port.  Jack  Tar 
found  life  much  more  agreeable  on  an  American 
merchantman  ;  and  he  rarely  failed  to  procure  the 
needful  naturalization  papers  or  certificates  which 
would  give  him  a  claim  to  American  citizenship. 
The  right  of  expatriation  was  not  at  this  time 
conceded  by  the  British  Government.  Once  an  Eng 
lishman,  always  an  Englishman.  Surely,  then,  Brit 
ish  commanders  might  claim  their  own  seamen  on 
the  high  seas.  Officially,  at  least,  they  never  claimed 
the  right  to  impress  American  seamen.  Yet  where 
differences  of  speech  were  so  slight,  the  provocation 
so  strong,  and  the  needs  of  the  navy  so  great,  search 


PEACEABLE  COERCION  183 

crews  were  not  always  careful  to  distinguish  be 
tween  Britishers  and  Yankees. 

The  United  States  never  admitted  the  justice  of 
these  claims.  To  concede  the  right  of  search  on  the 
high  seas  was  to  admit  a  vast  extension  of  British 
jurisdiction.  As  early  as  1792,  Jefferson  had  stated 
the  principle  for  which  the  United  States  had  con 
sistently  contended  :  "  The  simplest  rule  will  be  that 
the  vessel  being  American  shall  be  evidence  that  the 
seamen  on  board  of  her  are  such."  The  principle 
was  never  accepted  by  any  British  ministry.  The 
practice  of  impressment  continued  to  harass  each 
succeeding  administration.  In  1806,  a  crisis  seemed 
at  hand.  Madison  reported  to  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  the  names  of  nine  hundred  and  thirteen 
persons  who  appeared  to  have  been  impressed  from 
American  vessels.  How  many  of  these  were  British 
deserters  under  American  names,  it  is  impossible  to 
say.  The  number  reported  by  Madison  is  at  least 
an  index  to  the  sense  of  injury  which  the  nation 
felt. 

When  President  Jefferson  sent  Pinkney  to  join 
Monroe  in  securing  a  comprehensive  treaty  with 
Great  Britain,  which  should  restore  West  India  trade 
to  its  old  condition  and  provide  indemnity  for  the 
American  vessels  condemned  in  the  admiralty  courts, 
he  set  down,  as  a  sine  qua  non  in  his  instructions, 
the  renunciation  by  the  British  Government  of  the 
practice  of  impressment.  It  was  an  ultimatum  which 
expressed  a  truly  national  feeling ;  but  with  the  con 
sciousness  of  power  which  the  domination  of  the 
high  seas  gave,  the  British  commissioners  treated 


184          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

this  ultimatum,  somewhat  contemptuously,  as  an  im 
possible  and  unwarranted  demand.  The  American 
mission  should  have  ended  then  and  there ;  but  on 
obtaining  assurances  that  greater  care  would  be 
exercised  in  impressing  seamen,  Monroe  and  Pink- 
ney  determined  to  disregard  their  instructions.  Ne 
gotiations  were  continued  and  culminated  in  a  treaty, 
December  1,  1806,  which  ran  counter  to  the  in 
junctions  of  the  President  in  every  particular.  He 
refused  to  submit  the  document  to  the  Senate.  Never 
theless,  he  permitted  Madison  to  draft  new  instruc 
tions  for  the  commissioners,  in  the  hope  that  the 
treaty  could  be  made  a  basis  for  farther  negotiations. 
While  these  new  instructions  were  crossing  the  ocean, 
a  disaster  occurred  which  brought  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain  to  the  verge  of  war. 

In  the  early  months  of  1807,  some  French  frigates 
had  run  up  Chesapeake  Bay  to  escape  a  British 
squadron.  Relying  on  what  Jefferson  pleasantly 
termed  the  hospitality  of  the  United  States,  these 
British  men-of-war  dropped  anchor  in  Lynnhaven 
Bay,  near  Cape  Henry,  where  they  could  watch  the 
passage  through  the  capes.  From  one  of  these  British 
vessels  a  boat  crew  of  common  seamen  made  their 
escape  to  Norfolk.  Just  at  this  time  the  new  frigate 
Chesapeake,  which  had  been  partially  fitted  out  at 
the  navy  yard  at  Washington  for  service  in  the 
Mediterranean,  dropped  down  to  Hampton  Roads  to 
receive  her  complement  of  guns  and  provisions  for 
a  three  years'  cruise. 

On  June  22,  the  Chesapeake  passed  out  through 
the  capes,  preceded  by  the  Leopard,  a  British  frigate 


PEACEABLE  COERCION 


185 


of  fifty  guns.  When  they  were  well  out  on  the  high 
seas,  the  Leopard  drew  alongside  the  Chesapeake 
and  signaled  that  she  had  a  message  for  Commodore 
Barren.  This  message  proved  to  be  an  order  from 
Admiral  Berke 
ley  at  Halifax, 
instructing  com 
manders  of  Brit 
ish  vessels  who 
fell  in  with  the 
Chesapeake  to 
search  her  for 
deserters.  The 
American  com 
mander  denied 
that  he  had  de 
serters  on  board 
and  refused  to 
allow  the  search. 
Almost  immedi 
ately  the  Leo 
pard  approached 
with  her  gun- 
decks  cleared  for 
action.  Unaware 
of  his  danger 
Commodore  Bar- 
ron  had  not  called  his  crew  to  quarters.  The  Leopard 
opened  fire  and  poured  three  broadsides  into  the 
helpless  American  vessel,  killing  three  men  and 
wounding  eighteen  others.  After  fifteen  minutes 
Barren  hauled  down  his  flag  to  spare  his  crew  from 


186          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

needless  sacrifice,  and  suffered  the  British  com 
mander  to  search  the  dismantled  Chesapeake.  Four 
alleged  deserters  were  found  and  taken  away,  three 
of  whom  subsequently  were  proved  to  be  American 
citizens.  The  Leopard  then  returned  to  the  squad 
ron  off  Cape  Henry,  while  the  Chesapeake  limped 
back  to  Hampton  Roads. 

Had  the  President  chosen  to  go  to  war  at  this 
moment,  he  would  have  had  a  united  people  behind 
him.  But  Thomas  Jefferson  was  not  a  martial  char 
acter.  His  proclamation  ordering  all  armed  Brit 
ish  vessels  out  of  American  waters  and  suspending 
intercourse  with  them  if  they  remained,  was  so 
moderate  in  tone  as  to  seem  almost  pusillanimous. 
John  Randolph  called  it  an  apology.  Instead  of  de 
manding  unconditional  reparation  for  this  outrage, 
Madison  instructed  Monroe  to  insist  upon  an  entire 
abolition  of  impressments  as  "  an  indispensable  part 
of  the  satisfaction."  The  astute  Canning,  who  had 
become  Foreign  Secretary  in  the  new  Portland  Mill- 

o  •> 

istry,  took  advantage  of  this  confusion  of  issues  to 
evade  the  demand  for  reparation  until  popular  pas 
sion  in  the  United  States  had  subsided.  It  was  not 
until  November  that  Canning  took  active  measures. 
He  then  sent  a  special  commissioner  to  the  United 
States  in  the  person  of  George  Rose. 

The  instructions  which  Rose  carried  with  him  to 
Washington,  in  January,  1808,  were  anything  but 
conciliatory.  As  a  preliminary  to  any  negotiations, 
he  was  to  demand  the  recall  of  the  President's  proc 
lamation  of  July  2,  and  an  explicit  disavowal  of 
Commodore  Barren's  conduct  in  encouraging  deser- 


PEACEABLE  COERCION  187 

tion  from  His  Majesty's  navy.  The  United  States 
was  also  to  give  assurances  that  it  would  prevent 
the  recurrence  of  such  causes  as  had  provoked  the 
display  of  force  by  Admiral  Berkeley.  That  the  Ad 
ministration  should  have  continued  negotiations  after 
the  full  purport  of  these  instructions  was  disclosed, 
seems  incredible  ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  middle  of 
February  that  Madison  awoke  to  the  fact  that  the 
United  States  was  being  invited  to  "  make  as  it  wer« 
an  expiatory  sacrifice  to  obtain  redress."  Yet  an 
other  month  passed  before  Rose  was  given  to  under 
stand  that  his  mission  was  futile.  By  this  time  pub 
lic  attention  was  engrossed  in  the  contest  for  neutral 
rights. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  1806,  Napoleon  was 
master  of  central  Europe  and  in  a  position  to  deal 
his  premeditated  blow  at  the  commercial  ascendency 
of  England.  A  fortnight  after  the  terrible  overthrow 
of  Prussia  at  Jena,  he  made  a  triumphal  entry  into 
Berlin.  From  this  city  he  issued^  on  November  21, 
the  famous  decree  which  was  his  answer  to  the  Brit 
ish  blockade  of  the  continent.  Since  the  British  had 
determined  to  ruin  neutral  commerce  by  an  illegal 
blockade,  so  the  preamble  read,  "  whoever  deals  on 
the  continent  in  English  merchandise  favors  that 
design  and  becomes  an  accomplice."  All  English 
goods  henceforth  were  to  be  lawful  prize  in  any  ter 
ritory  held  by  the  troops  of  France  or  her  allies. 
The  British  Isles  were  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of 
blockade.  Every  American  or  other  neutral  vessel 
going  to  or  coming  from  the  British  Isles,  thereforet 
was  subject  to  capture. 


188          UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

The  British  Ministry  took  up  the  gauntlet.  An 
order  in  council  of  January  7, 1807,  forbade  neutral 
trade  between  ports  under  the  control  of  France  or 
her  allies;  a  second  order,  November  11,  closed  to 
neutrals  those  European  ports  under  French  con 
trol  uas  if  the  same  were  actually  blockaded,"  but 
permitted  vessels  which  first  entered  a  British  port 
and  paid  port  duties  to  sail  to  any  continental  port. 
Only  one  more  blow  seemed  needed  to  complete  the 
ruin  of  American  commerce.  It  fell  a  month  later, 
December  17,  1807,  when  Napoleon  issued  his 
Milan  Decree.  Henceforth  any  vessel  which  sub 
mitted  to  be  searched  by  an  English  cruiser  or 
which  paid  any  tonnage  duty  to  the  British  Govern 
ment  or  which  set  sail  for  any  British  port  was 
subject  to  capture  and  condemnation  as  lawful  prize. 
Such  was  to  be  the  maritime  code  "  until  England 
returned  to  the  principles  of  international  law  which 
are  also  those  of  justice  and  honor." 

American  commerce  was  now,  indeed,  between 
the  hammer  and  the  anvil.  The  Nicholson  Non-Im 
portation  Act,  which  had  been  twice  suspended  and 
which  had  only  just  gone  into  effect  (December  14), 
seemed  wholly  inadequate  to  meet  this  situation. 
It  had  been  designed  as  a  coercive  measure,  to  be 
sure,  but  no  one  knew  precisely  to  what  extent  it 
would  affect  English  trade.  The  time  had  come  for 
the  blow  which  Jefferson  and  his  advisers  had  held 
in  reserve.  On  December  18,  the  President  sent  to 
Congress  a  message  recommending  c<f  an  immediate 
inhibition  of  the  departure  of  our  vessels  from  the 
ports  of  the  United  States."  The  Senate  responded 


PEACEABLE  COERCION  189 

by  passing  a  bill  (which  Jefferson  probably  drafted) 
through  its  three  stages  in  a  single  day  ;  the  House 
passed  the  measure  after  only  two  days  of  debate  ; 
and  on  December  22,  the  Embargo  Act  received 
the  President's  signature. 

The  temper  of  those  who  supported  the  embargo 
was  reflected  by  Senator  Adams,  of  Massachusetts, 
who  was  reported  to  have  said :  "  The  President 
has  recommended  the  measure  on  his  high  responsi 
bility.  I  would  not  consider,  I  would  not  deliberate ; 
I  would  act."  Yet  there  were  members  of  Congress 
who  were  not  prepared  to  accept  the  high  authority 
of  the  President.  The  vote  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  indicates  that  opinion  was  divided  in 
Adams's  own  State.  Boston  with  its  environs  and 
the  interior  counties  were  opposed  to  the  embargo. 
New  York  was  also  divided,  though  here  the  com 
mercial  areas  favored  the  measure.  Maryland  showed 
a  like  division  of  opinion.  Connecticut  was  a  unit 
in  opposing  the  President's  policy. 

What  was  the  measure  which  was  accepted  almost 
without  discussion  on  "the  high  responsibility "  of 
the  President?  So  far  as  it  was  defended  at  all, 
it  was  presented  as  a  measure  for  the  protection  of 
American  ships,  merchandise,  and  seamen.  It  for 
bade  the  departure  of  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the 
ports  of  the  United  States  for  any  foreign  port,  ex 
cept  vessels  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the 
President.  Foreign  armed  vessels  were  exempted  as 
a  matter  of  course  from  the  operation  of  this  act ;  so 
also  were  all  vessels  in  ballast  or  already  loaded  with 
goods  at  the  time  when  the  act  was  passed.  Coasting 


190          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

vessels  were  to  give  bonds  double  the  value  of  vessel 
and  cargo  to  re-land  their  goods,  wares,  or  mer 
chandise  in  some  port  of  the  United  States. 

American  shippers  were  so  little  appreciative  of 
the  protection  offered  by  a  benevolent  Government 
that  they  evaded  the  embargo  from  the  very  first. 
Foreign  trade  was  lucrative  in  just  the  proportion 
that  it  was  hazardous.  If  some  skippers  obeyed,  the 
profits  were  so  much  the  greater  for  the  less  consci 
entious.  Under  guise  of  engaging  in  the  coasting 
trade,  many  a  ship's  captain  with  the  connivance  of 
the  owner  landed  his  cargo  in  a  foreign  port.  A 
brisk  traffic  also  sprang  up  by  land  across  the 
Canadian  border. 

All  pretense  that  the  embargo  was  designed  to 
protect  American  commerce  had  now  to  be  aban 
doned.  Jefferson  did  not  attempt  to  disguise  his 
purpose  to  use  the  embargo  as  a  great  coercive 
weapon  against  France  and  Great  Britain.  Congress 
passed  supplementary  acts  and  suffered  the  Presi 
dent  to  exercise  a  vast  discretionary  power  which 
was  strangely  at  variance  with  Republican  traditions. 
"  When  you  are  doubtful,"  wrote  the  President  with 
reference  to  coasting  vessels,  "  consider  me  as  voting 
for  detention."  "  We  find  it  necessary,"  he  informed 
the  governors  of  the  States,  u  to  consider  every  vessel 
as  suspicious  which  has  on  board  any  article  of  do 
mestic  produce  in  demand  at  foreign  markets."  Gov 
ernors  of  those  States  which  consumed  more  wheat 
than  they  produced  were  to  issue  certificates  to  col 
lectors  of  ports  stating  the  amount  desired.  The 
collectors  in  turn  were  to  authorize  merchants  in 


PEACEABLE  COERCION  191 

whom  they  had  confidence  to  import  the  needed  sup 
plies.  Nor  did  the  President  hesitate  to  put  whole 
communities  under  the  ban  when  individual  ship 
owners  were  suspected  of  engaging  in  illicit  trade. 
He  so  far  forgot  his  horror  of  a  standing  army  that 
he  asked  Congress  for  an  addition  to  the  regular 
army  of  six  thousand  men.  Congress  had  already 
made  an  appropriation  of  $850,000  to  build  gun 
boats.  It  now  appropriated  a  million  and  a  quarter 
for  fortifications  and  for  the  equipment  of  the  militia. 

Through  the  long  summer  of  1808,  President 
Jefferson  waited  anxiously  for  the  effects  of  coercion 
to  appear.  The  reports  from  abroad  were  not  en 
couraging.  The  effects  of  the  embargo  upon  English 
economy  are  even  now  a  matter  of  conjecture.  In 
the  opinion  of  Mr.  Henry  Adams,  the  embargo  only 
fattened  the  shipowners  and  squires  who  devised  the 
orders  in  council,  and  lowered  the  wages  and  moral 
standard  of  the  laboring  classes  by  cutting  off  tem 
porarily  the  importation  of  foodstuffs  and  the  raw 
material  for  British  manufacturers.  When  Pinkney 
approached  Canning  with  the  proposal  that  England 
should  revoke  her  orders  upon  the  withdrawal  of  the 
embargo,  he  was  told,  with  biting  sarcasm,  that  "  if 
it  were  possible  to  make  any  sacrifice  for  the  repeal 
of  the  embargo  without  appearing  to  deprecate  it  as  a 
measure  of  hostility,  he  [His  Majesty]  would  gladly 
have  facilitated  its  removal  as  a  measure  of  incon 
venient  restriction  upon  the  American  people."  The 
blow  aimed  at  Great  Britain  had  missed  its  mark. 

From  the  first  Napoleon  had  welcomed  the  em 
bargo  as  a  measure  likely  to  contribute  to  the  success 


192          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

of  his  continental  system.  On  April  17,  1808,  he 
issued  a  decree  from  Bayonne  ordering  the  seizure 
of  all  American  vessels  in  French  ports.  It  was 
argued  ingeniously  that  since  they  were  abroad  in 
violation  of  the  embargo,  they  were  not  bonafide 
American  vessels,  but  presumptively  British,  and 
therefore  subject  to  capture.  To  accept  the  aid  of 
the  French  Emperor  in  enforcing  a  policy  which  was 
intended  to  coerce  his  action,  was  humiliating  to  the 
last  degree.  Armstrong  wrote  to  Madison  that  in  his 
opinion  the  coercive  force  of  the  embargo  had  been 
overrated.  "  Here  it  is  not  felt,  and  in  England  .  .  . 
it  is  forgotten." 

The  importance  of  the  embargo,  Jefferson  never 
tired  of  repeating,  was  not  to  be  measured  in  money. 
If  the  brutalities  of  war  and  the  corruption  incident 
to  war  could  be  avoided  by  this  alternative,  the  experi 
ment  was  well  worth  trying.  Yet  Jefferson  himself 
was  startled  by  the  deliberate  and  systematic  evasions 
of  the  law.  "  I  did  not  expect,"  he  confessed,  "  a 
crop  of  so  sudden  and  rank  growth  of  fraud  and 
open  opposition  by  force  could  have  grown  up  in  the 
United  States."  Moreover,  the  cost  of  the  embargo 
was  very  great.  The  value  of  exports  fell  from 
$108,000,000  in  1807  to  122,000,000  in  the  fol 
lowing  year.  The  national  revenue  from  import  duties 
was  cut  down  by  one  half. 

The  embargo  bore  down  with  crushing  weight  upon 
New  England,  where  nearly  one  third  of  the  ships 
engaged  in  the  carrying  trade  were  owned.  The  ship 
building  industry  languished,  as  well  as  all  the  indus 
tries  subsidiary  to  commerce.  Even  the  farmers 


PEACEABLE  COERCION  193 

suffered  as  the  embargo  continued.  A  temporary  loss 
of  their  market  could  have  been  borne  with  some 
degree  of  equanimity,  but  not  an  indefinite  loss,  for 
imported  goods  now  began  to  rise  in  price,  adding  to 
the  general  distress. 

The  economic  distress  of  New  England,  however, 
cannot  be  measured  by  the  volume  of  indignant  pro 
test.  The  Federalist  machine  never  worked  more 
effectively  than  when  it  directed  this  unrest  and  di 
verted  it  to  partisan  purposes.  Thomas  Jefferson's 
embargo  was  made  to  seem  a  vindictive  assault  upon 
New  England.  The  Essex  Junto,  with  Timothy 
Pickering  as  leader,  spared  no  pains  to  convince 
the  unthinking  that  Jefferson  was  the  tool  or  the 
dupe  of  Napoleon,  who  was  bent  upon  coercing  the 
United  States  into  war  with  Great  Britain.  The 
spring  election  of  1808  gave  the  measure  of  this  re 
action  in  Massachusetts.  The  Federalists  regained 
control  of  both  houses  of  the  state  legislature,  and 
forced  the  resignation  of  Senator  John  Quincy  Adams, 
who  had  broken  with  his  party  by  voting  for  the  em 
bargo,  and  who  had  incurred  the  undying  enmity  of 
of  the  Essex  Junto  by  defending  the  policy  of  the 
Administration. 

In  the  midst  of  what  Jefferson  called  "  the  general 
factiousness,"  following  the  embargo,  occurred  a 
presidential  election.  Jefferson  was  not  a  candidate 
for  reelection.  His  fondest  hope  now  was  that  he 
might  be  allowed  to  retire  with  honor  to  the  bosom 
of  his  family.  Upon  whom  would  his  mantle  fall? 
Madison  was  his  probable  preference  ;  and  Madison 
had  the  doubtful  advantage  of  a  formal  nomination 


194          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

by  the  regular  congressional  caucus  of  the  party.  But 
Monroe  still  considered  his  chances  of  election  good  ; 
and  Vice-President  George  Clinton  also  announced 
his  candidacy.  Both  Monroe  and  Clinton  represented 
those  elements  of  opposition  which  harassed  the  clos 
ing  months  of  the  Administration.  Contrary  to  ex 
pectation,  the  Federalists  did  not  ally  themselves 
with  Clinton,  but  preferred  to  go  down  in  defeat 
under  their  old  leaders,  Charles  C.  Pinckney  and 
Rufus  King.  With  the  opposition  thus  divided, 
Madison  scored  an  easy  victory  ;  but  against  him 
was  the  almost  solid  vote  of  a  section.  All  the  New 
England  States  but  Vermont  cast  their  electoral  votes 
for  the  Federalist  candidates. 

Before  the  end  of  the  year  the  failure  of  the  em. 
bargo  was  patent  to  every  fair-minded  observer.  The 
alternatives,  war  or  submission,  were  not  pleasant  to 
contemplate.  From  force  of  habit  the  party  in  power 
looked  to  Jefferson  for  leadership ;  but  since  Madison's 
election,  he  had  assumed  the  role  of  "unmeddling 
listener,"  not  wishing  to  commit  his  successor  to  any 
policy.  The  abdication  of  Jefferson  thus  left  the 
party  without  a  leader  and  without  a  program  at  a 
most  critical  moment. 

Under  the  circumstances  it  was  easier  to  continue 
the  embargo  than  to  face  the  probability  of  war. 
Gallatin  had  already  urged  the  need  of  more  strin 
gent  laws  for  the  enforcement  of  the  embargo,— 
laws  which  he  admitted  were  both  odious  and  dan 
gerous.  On  January  9,  1809,  Congress  passed  the 
desired  legislation.  Thereafter  coasting  vessels  were 
obliged  to  give  bonds  to  six  times  the  value  of  ves- 


PEACEABLE   COERCION  195 

sel  and  cargo  before  they  were  permitted  to  load. 
Collectors  were  authorized  to  refuse  permission  if  in 
their  opinion  there  was  "  an  intention  to  violate  the 
embargo."  Only  loss  at  sea  released  a  shipowner 
from  his  bond.  In  suits  at  law  neither  capture  nor 
any  other  accident  could  be  pleaded.  Collectors  at 
the  ports  and  on  the  frontiers  were  authorized  to 
seize  goods  which  were  u  apparently  on  their  way  to 
ward  the  territory  of  a  foreign  nation."  And  for  such 
seizures  the  collectors  were  not  liable  in  courts  of 
law.  The  army,  the  navy,  and  the  militia  were  put 
at  their  disposal. 

The  "  Force  Act  "  was  the  last  straw  for  the  Fed 
eralists  of  Massachusetts.  Town  after  town  adopted 
resolutions  which  ran  through  the  whole  gamut  of 
partisan  abuse.  The  General  Court  of  Massachusetts 
resolved  that  it  would  cooperate  with  other  States 
in  procuring  such  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
as  were  necessary  to  obtain  protection  for  commerce 
and  to  give  to  the  commercial  States  "  their  fair  and 
just  consideration  in  the  government  of  the  Union." 
Governor  Trumbull,  of  Connecticut,  flatly  declined 
to  allow  the  militia  to  assist  the  collectors  in  the 
enforcement  of  the  embargo,  holding  that  the  act  to 
enforce  the  embargo  was  unconstitutional,  "  inter 
fering  with  the  state  sovereignties,  and  subversive  of 
the  guaranteed  rights,  privileges,  and  immunities  of 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States."  The  legislature 
rallied  to  the  support  of  the  governor  with  resolu 
tions  which  breathe  much  the  same  spirit  as  the  Vir 
ginia  and  Kentucky  Resolutions  of  1798. 

The  incessant  bombardment  by  the  New  England 


196          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

towns  was  too  much  for  Jefferson's  equanimity.  "  I 
felt  the  foundation  of  the  government  shaken  under 
my  feet  by  the  New  England  townships,"  he  said  in 
after  years.  His  control  over  his  own  party  was  gone. 
Northern  Republicans  combined  with  Federalists  to 
force  the  repeal  of  the  embargo  through  Congress ; 
and  on  March  1,  1809,  with  much  bitterness  of 
spirit,  Jefferson  signed  the  bill  that  terminated  his 
great  experiment.  Instead  of  interdicting  commerce 
altogether,  Congress  suspended  intercourse  with 
France  and  Great  Britain  after  March  15  and  until 
one  or  the  other  of  the  offenders  repealed  its  obnox 
ious  orders.  Meantime,  American  vessels  were  free 
to  pick  up  what  trade  they  could  with  other  nations. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  historical  writings  of  Henry  Adams  are  indispensable  aids 
to  an  understanding  of  the  foreign  policy  of  Jefferson.  On  the 
effect  of  the  embargo,  Channing,  The  Jcffcrsonian  System,  takes 
sharp  issue  with  Adams.  There  is  a  mass  of  valuable  data  on  social 
history  in  the  third  volume  of  McMaster,  History  of  the  Peo 
ple  of  the  United  States.  E.  L.  Bogart,  Economic  History  of  the 
United  States  (1913) ;  Katherine  Coman,  Industrial  History  of  the 
United  States  (1913);  and  C.D.Wright,  Industrial  Evolution  of 
the  United  States  (1907),  are  manuals  containing  much  valuable 
matter.  The  brief  introductions  to  the  chapters  in  G.  S.  Callen- 
der,  Selections  from  the  Economic  History  of  the  United  States 
(1909),  are  always  illuminating.  The  foreign  policy  of  Jefferson 
and  Madison  is  extensively  reviewed  in  A.  T.  Mahan,  Sea  Power 
in  its  Relations  to  the  War  of  1812  (2  vols.,  1905). 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE    APPROACH    OF  WAR 

THE  Administration  of  James  Madison  began  with 
what  seemed  like  a  diplomatic  triumph.  Negotiations 
with  the  new  British  minister,  Erskine,  led  to  a  com 
plete  agreement  on  all  the  points  in  dispute.  Full 
reparation  was  to  be  made  for  the  Chesapeake  affair. 
The  offensive  orders  in  council  of  1807  were  to  be 
withdrawn  on  a  fixed  date.  Thereupon,  with  undis 
guised  satisfaction,  the  President  issued  a  procla 
mation,  April  21,  1809,  renewing  commercial  in 
tercourse  with  Great  Britain.  General  rejoicing 
followed.  Ships  which  had  been  tied  up  to  wharves 
for  eighteen  months  put  to  sea  with  crowded  holds. 
Those  Republicans  who  had  stanchly  upheld  the 
Jeffersonian  policy  of  peaceable  coercion  boldly 
claimed  for  the  embargo  the  credit  of  having  brought 
about  this  happy  consummation.  Some  misgivings 
were  excited,  to  be  sure,  by  the  report  of  a  new  order 
in  council  which  substituted  a  blockade  of  Holland, 
France,  and  Italy  for  the  order  of  November,  1807 ; 
yet  weeks  of  smug  satisfaction  were  enjoyed  by  the 
Administration  before  it  was  bewildered  by  the  tid 
ings  that  Canning  had  recalled  Erskine  and  repudi 
ated  all  his  acts.  Madison  had  to  submit  to  "  the 
mortifying  necessity  "  of  issuing  another  proclama 
tion  reviving  the  Non-Intercourse  Act  against  Great 
Britain. 


198          UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 

Erskine  was  replaced  by  Francis  James  Jackson, 
a  typical  representative  of  the  governing  class,  — 
intolerant,  overbearing,  and  contemptuous.  He  had 
been  chosen  in  1807  for  the  brutal  destruction  of 
the  Danish  fleet  at  Copenhagen.  Pinkney  described 
him  as  "  completely  attached  to  all  those  British 
principles  and  doctrines  which  sometimes  give  us 
trouble."  Madison  was  speedily  convinced  that  con 
ciliation  was  not  the  keynote  of  this  man's  mission. 
After  the  first  exchange  of  notes,  he  took  the  pen 
out  of  the  hand  of  Robert  Smith,  his  incompetent 
Secretary  of  State,  in  order  to  deal  more  effectually 
with  the  adversary.  When  Jackson  intimated  that 
Erskine  had  been  disavowed  for  disobedience  to  in 
structions  and  that  the  Administration  was  some 
how  responsible  for  this  misconduct,  Madison  warned 
him  sharply  that  "  such  insinuations  are  inadmissible 
in  the  intercourse  of  a  foreign  minister  with  a  gov 
ernment  that  understands  what  it  owes  itself  " ;  and 
a  few  days  later,  after  an  exhibition  of  domineering 
temper  on  the  part  of  Jackson,  Madison  informed 
him  that  no  further  communications  would  be  re 
ceived.  Months  passed,  however,  before  Jackson  was 
recalled ;  and  in  the  mean  time  he  made  a  tour 
through  the  Eastern  States  where  he  was  warmly 
welcomed  by  the  Federalists.  No  better  evidence  was 
needed  to  convince  the  Administration  of  the  unpa 
triotic  and  pro-British  attitude  of  Federalist  New 
England. 

The  Non-Intercourse  Act  had  brought  some  meas 
ure  of  relief  to  New  England  shipping.  Trade  with 
parts  of  the  European  continent  could  now  be  carried 


THE  APPROACH  OF  WAR  199 

on  by  those  who  wished  to  incur  the  hazard.  A 
greater  volume  of  trade  was  probably  carried  on 
illicitly  with  England.  Amelia  Island,  just  across  the 
Florida  line,  and  Halifax,  in  Nova  Scotia,  became 
intermediate  ports  to  which  American  goods  went 
for  reshipment  to  Europe  and  to  which  British  mer 
chandise  was  shipped  for  distribution  in  the  United 
States.  Notwithstanding  these  well-known  evasions 
of  the  law,  Congress  would  probably  have  been  con 
tent  to  leave  well  enough  aloue  but  for  the  fact  that 
the  Non-Intercourse  Act  would  expire  by  limitation 
in  the  spring  of  1810.  Some  action  was  imperative. 
A  bill  was  drawn  by  the  Administration  to  meet  the 
situation  and  introduced  in  the  House  by  Macon; 
but  it  failed  to  command  the  support  of  the  party 
and  was  dropped  in  favor  of  a  second  bill,  commonly 
known  as  Macon's  Bill  No.  2,  though  he  was  not 
the  author  of  it.  This  measure  eventually  became 
liw,  May  1,  1810.  "It  marked  the  last  stage  toward 
the  admitted  failure  of  commercial  restrictions  as  a 
substitute  for  war,"  writes  Mr.  Adams.  By  repealing 
the  Non-Intercourse  Act  it  left  commerce  free  once 
more  to  seek  the  markets  of  the  world.  In  case  either 
Great  Britain  or  France  should  revoke  or  modify  its 
hostile  policy,  the  President  was  authorized  to  revive 
the  Non-Intercourse  Act  against  the  delinquent  nation. 
After  the  Non-Intercourse  Act  of  1809,  Napoleon 
had  begun  the  "sequestration"  of  American  vessels 
in  European  ports.  Sequestration  proved  to  be  only 
a  euphemistic  expression  for  confiscation.  On  May 
14,  he  issued  from  Rambouillet  a  decree  which  author 
ized  the  seizure  and  condemnation  of  all  American 


200          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

ships  in  French  ports.  With  an  eye  to  the  needs  of 
his  war  chest,  the  Emperor  calculated  that  by  draw 
ing  in  this  net  he  would  make  a  catch  amounting  to 
about  six  million  dollars.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this 
was  a  conservative  estimate.  The  American  consul 
at  Paris  reported  the  seizure  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four  vessels  between  April,  1809,  and  April, 
1810.  The  actual  loss  to  American  shipowners  could 
not  have  been  less  than  ten  millions  of  dollars. 

The  news  of  the  passage  of  Macon's  bill  suggested 
another  stroke  to  the  wily  conqueror  of  Europe.  On 
August  5,  he  announced  to  the  American  Minister 
that  the  decrees  of  Berlin  and  Milan  were  revoked 
and  would  be  inoperative  after  November  1,  "it  be 
ing  understood  that  in  consequence  of  this  decla 
ration  the  English  are  to  revoke  their  orders  in 
council  and  renounce  the  new  principles  of  blockade," 
and  that  the  United  States,  conforming  to  its  act  of 
May  1, 1810,  would  "  cause  their  rights  to  be  respected 
by  the  English." 

Accepting  this  letter  at  its  face  value,  with  a 
credulity  which  now  seems  incredible,  President 
Madison  proclaimed  on  November  2  that  France  had 
withdrawn  its  decrees,  and  that  in  consequence  com 
mercial  intercourse  with  Great  Britain  would  be  sus 
pended  on  and  after  February  2,  1811.  Madison's 
haste  was  due  to  a  very  natural  desire  to  coerce 
Great  Britain  into  a  similar  renunciation,  but  to  his 
chagrin,  the  British  Ministry  refused  to  accept  the 
mere  notification  of  Napoleon  as  evidence  of  the  re 
peal  of  the  various  decrees.  Even  the  supporters  of 
the  Administration  became  uneasy  as  months  passed 


THE   APPROACH   OF   WAR  201 

without  any  formal  edict  of  revocation.  Might  not 
the  courts  adjudge  that  the  decrees  had  not  been  re 
pealed  pro  forma  ?  The  Administration  was  greatly 
perturbed  in  December,  too,  by  the  news  that  two 
American  vessels  had  been  sequestered  at  Bordeaux. 
After  much  hesitation,  Congress  came  to  the  support 
of  the  President  and  revived  the  Non-Intercourse 
Act  against  Great  Britain,  at  the  same  time  admit 
ting  the  weakness  of  its  position  by  the  additional 
provision  that  the  courts  should  not  entertain  the 
question  whether  the  French  decrees  were  or  were 
not  revoked.  On  the  same  day,  February  28,  1811, 
Pinkney  took  formal  leave  of  the  Prince  Regent 
under  circumstances  which  presaged,  if  they  did  not 
imply,  a  rupture  of  diplomatic  relations.  ;Yet  the 
British  Ministry  had  so  little  comprehension  of  the 
temper  of  the  American  people  that  at  this  very  mo 
ment  Wellesley  was  drafting  instructions  for  the 
new  Minister,  Mr.  Augustus  John  Foster,  which 
bade  him  yield  not  a  jot  or  a  tittle  to  the  alleged 
rights  of  neutrals.  He  was,  however,  to  make  proper 
reparation  for  the  Chesapeake  affair. 

In  these  months  of  struggle  for  the  rights  of  neu 
tral  commerce,  the  question  of  impressments  had  been 
relegated  to  second  place  in  the  minds  of  Americans. 
The  blockade  of  New  York  by  British  frigates  in  the 
spring  of  1811  suddenly  revived  the  old  controversy. 
For  a  year  past  an  American  squadron  under  the 
command  of  Commodore  John  Rodgers  had  patrolled 
the  coast,  under  instructions  to  protect  all  merchant 
men  from  molestation  by  armed  foreign  cruisers 
within  the  three-mile  limit. 


202          UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

The  British  frigate  Guerriere  had  made  itself  par 
ticularly  offensive  by  its  search  crews  and  arbitrary 
seizures  of  alleged  deserters.  On  May  16,  1811, 
Commodore  Rodgers's  flagship,  the  frigate  President 
carrying  forty-four  guns,  sighted  a  British  sloop-of- 
war  some  fifty  miles  east  of  Cape  Henry,  which  he 
believed  to  be  the  Guerriere,  and  wishing  to  make 
inquiries  about  a  certain  seaman  who  was  reported 
to  have  been  impressed,  Rodgers  sailed  toward  the 
stranger.  The  vessel  acted  in  a  manner  which  was 
thought  suspicious,  so  the  President  gave  chase.  On 
coming  within  range  about  dusk,  the  American  frig 
ate  was  fired  upon,  so  it  was  alleged  in  a  subsequent 
court  of  inquiry.  The  President  then  opened  its 
batteries  and  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes  had  over 
powered  the  British  corvette.  To  his  surprise  and 
disappointment,  Rodgers  then  learned  that  his  antag 
onist  was  not  the  Guerriere,  but  the  Little  Belt,  a 
vessel  far  inferior  to  his  own  and  carrying  only  twenty 
guns.  When  the  new  British  Minister  arrived  in 
Washington,  he  found  the  Administration  singularly 
indifferent  to  the  historic  Chesapeake  affair.  In  the 
opinion  of  the  American  public,  the  President  had 
avenged  the  Chesapeake. 

While  Congress  was  vacillating  between  non-in 
tercourse  and  partial  non-intercourse,  in  the  early 
months  of  1810,  with  a  strong  inclination  toward 
the  path  of  least  resistance,  one  voice  was  raised  for 
war.  Henry  Clay  was  then  filling  out  an  unexpired 
term  in  the  Senate  upon  appointment  by  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Kentucky.  Born  in  Virginia,  thirty-three 
years  before,  he  had  sought  his  fortune  as  a  young 


THE   APPROACH  OF  WAR  £03 

lawyer  in  the  new  communities  beyond  the  Allegha- 
nies.  Closely  identified  with  the  aggressive  spirit  of 
his  section,  he  voiced  a  growing  sense  of  humiliation 
that  his  country  should  be  buffeted  by  every  British 
ministry.  The  people  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
had  little  patience  with  half  measures  in  defense  of 
national  rights.  The  petty  diplomacy  of  closet  states 
men  did  not  appeal  to  the  soul  of  the  frontiersman, 
who  was  accustomed  to  hew  his  way  to  his  goal. 
The  people  of  this  section,  imperial  in  its  dimen 
sions,  were  prepared  for  large  tasks  done  in  a  bold 
way.  Their  ideas  of  the  Union  transcended  the  poli 
cies  of  Eastern  statesmen,  whose  eyes  saw  no  farther 
than  the  tops  of  the  Alleghanies  and  whose  ears  lis 
tened  all  too  readily  to  the  admonitions  of  European 
chancellors.  Clay  spoke  heatedly  of  the  "  ignomini 
ous  surrender  of  our  rights  "  —  heritage  of  the  he 
roes  of  the  Revolution.  He  would  have  Congress 
exhibit  the  vigor  of  their  forbears.  "  The  conquest 
of  Canada  is  in  your  power,"  he  cried.  "  I  trust  I 
shall  not  be  deemed  presumptuous  when  I  state  that 
I  verily  believe  that  the  militia  of  Kentucky  alone 
are  competent  to  place  Montreal  and  Upper  Canada 
at  your  feet."  This  was  a  new  and  unfamiliar  style 
of  oratory  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

At  this  moment,  however,  the  United  States  seemed 
far  more  likely  to  acquire  the  Floridas  than  Canada. 
In  the  summer  of  1810,  Americans  who  had  crossed 
the  border  and  settled  in  and  around  the  district  of 
West  Feliciana  rose  in  revolt  against  the  Spanish 
governor  at  Baton  Rouge,  and  declared  West  Florida 
a  free  and  independent  state,  appealing  to  the  Su- 


204          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

preme  Ruler  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  their 
intentions.  What  their  intentions  were  appeared  in 
a  petition  to  the  President  for  annexation  to  the 
United  States.  This  was  an  opportune  moment  for 
the  realization  of  the  hopes  which  Madison  had 
cherished  ever  since  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana.  On 
October  27,  1810,  he  issued  a  proclamation,  an 
nouncing  that  Governor  Claiborne  would  take  pos 
session  of  West  Florida  to  the  river  Perdido,  in  the 
name  of  the  United  States. 

Not  satisfied  with  this  achievement,  President 
Madison  called  attention  in  a  secret  message  to  the 
condition  of  East  Florida  and  asked  Congress  for 
authority  to  take  temporary  possession  of  any  part 
or  parts  of  the  territory.  With  equal  secrecy  Con 
gress  gave  the  desired  authorization,  and  the  Presi 
dent  immediately  sent  two  commissioners  with  large 
discretionary  powers  to  the  St.  Mary's  River.  In 
March,  1812,  another  "revolution"  took  place. 
The  Spanish  governor  of  East  Florida  was  forced 
to  surrender  and  to  permit  the  occupation  of  Amelia 
Island  in  the  name  of  the  United  States.  The  farce 
was  too  broad,  however,  even  for  the  eager  Admin 
istration.  The  President  was  obliged  to  disavow  the 
acts  of  his  agents.  But  Amelia  Island  was  not  evac 
uated  until  May,  1813,  and  West  Florida  was  never 
released.  After  much  deliberation  Congress  annexed 
part  of  the  region  to  the  new  State  of  Louisiana  and 
joined  the  rest  to  the  Territory  of  Mississippi. 

In  the  Northwest  also  American  pioneers  were 
overrunning  the  bounds,  not  those  fixed  by  inter 
national  agreement,  to  be  sure,  but  those  marked  by 


THE   APPROACH   OF   WAR  205 

Indian  treaties,  which  commanded  even  less  respect. 
A  society  which  believed  that  the  only  good  Indian 
was  a  dead  Indian  was  not  likely  to  be  over-nice  in 
its  appraisal  of  his  property  rights.  The  line  of  in 
tercourse  marked  by  the  Treaty  of  Greenville  in 
1795  had  receded  somewhat  as  home-seekers  had 
pushed  their  way  up  the  rivers  from  the  Ohio  into 
the  Indiana  Territory ;  but  the  vast  interior  around 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Wabash  River  was  still 
closed  to  white  men.  Governor  William  Henry 
Harrison  fully  shared  the  irritation  of  the  settlers 
that  Indians  should  monopolize  the  best  lands.  He 
was  therefore  a  willing  agent  of  the  President  when 
in  1804  and  1805  he  took  advantage  of  the  necessi* 
ties  of  certain  chieftains,  whom  he  called  "  the  most 
depraved  wretches  on  earth,"  to  despoil  whole  tribes 
of  their  lands,  under  the  guise  of  treaties. 

Among  the  better  class  of  Indians  this  policy 
aroused  the  bitterest  resentment.  The  rise  of  Tecum- 
seh,  son  of  a  Shawnee  warrior,  and  of  his  brother 
the  Prophet,  dates  from  this  time.  It  was  the  aim  of 
these  remarkable  individuals  to  prevent  the  further 
alienation  of  Indian  lands  by  limiting  the  authority 
of  irresponsible  local  chiefs  and  conferring  it  upon 
a  congress  of  warriors  from  all  allied  tribes.  During 
the  year  1808,  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  confederacy  by  establishing  an  In 
dian  village  on  Tippecanoe  Creek,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  above  Vincennes. 

In  the  following  year  (1809),  Governor  Harrison 
anticipated  the  formation  of  this  Indian  confedera 
tion  by  beginning  negotiations  with  the  same  irre- 


206          UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

sponsible  sachems  for  the  cession  of  more  lands. 
The  treaty,  which  was  readily  concluded,  carried  de 
spair  to  the  heart  of  every  follower  of  Tecumseh,  for 
it  conveyed  to  the  National  Government  three  mil 
lions  of  acres  of  the  best  lands  in  the  Indian  coun 
try,  extending  along  both  banks  of  the  Wabash  for 
a  hundred  miles.  An  alliance  with  the  British  seemed 
to  be  the  only  recourse  of  the  Indians.  Only  a  spark 
was  needed  to  start  a  conflagration  along  the  whole 
frontier. 

Although  war  was  believed  to  be  imminent  by  the 
people  of  Indiana,  the  winter  and  summer  of  1811 
passed  without  untoward  events.  Toward  the  end  of 
October,  Harrison  began  a  forward  movement  into 
the  Indian  country.  On  the  morning  of  November 
7,  his  camp  on  the  banks  of  the  Tippecanoe  was  at 
tacked.  A  sharp  engagement  followed,  in  which  the 
army  narrowly  escaped  disaster ;  but  the  troops  ral 
lied  and  finally  succeeded  in  routing  the  Indians.  In 
the  abandoned  village  of  the  Prophet  were  found 
English  arms  —  confirmatory  evidence,  it  was  said, 
of  the  part  which  the  British  in  Canada  had  taken 
in  the  projects  of  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet.  Oc 
curring  at  a  moment  of  tension  between  the  United 

O 

States  and  Great  Britain,  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe 
may  be  regarded  properly  as  "a  premature  outbreak 
of  the  great  wars  of  1812."  An  unforeseen  conse 
quence  of  this  skirmish  on  the  frontier  was  the  rise 
of  a  new  popular  hero  in  the  West. 

Nationally  minded  men  indulged  high  hopes  of 
the  new  Congress  which  convened  at  the  capital  in 
November,  1811.  The  presence  of  some  seventy  new 


THE   APPROACH   OF  WAR  207 

members,  many  of  whom  belonged  to  a  younger  gen 
eration,  warranted  the  expectation  that  the  Twelfth 
Congress  would  exhibit  greater  vigor  than  its  prede 
cessor.  In  organizing,  the  House  passed  over  Macon, 
who  belonged  to  the  old  school  of  statesmen,  and 
chose  as  Speaker  Henry  Clay,  who  had  exchanged 
his  seat  in  the  Senate  for  this  more  stirring  arena. 
Clay's  conception  of  the  Speakership  was  novel.  He 
was  determined  to  be  something  more  than  a  mere 
presiding  officer.  As  a  leader  of  his  party  he  pro 
posed  to  use  his  powers  of  office  to  shape  legislation. 
His  heart  was  set  upon  an  aggressive  policy.  War 
had  no  terrors  for  him.  He  therefore  named  his 
committees  with  the  possibility  of  war  in  mind. 

There  were  many  young  men  who  shared  Clay's 
impatience  with  the  policy  of  peaceable  coercion  and 
its  humiliating  sequel.  Grundy,  of  Tennessee,  had 
been  elected  because  he  openly  favored  war.  He  ad 
mitted  that  he  was  "  anxious  not  only  to  add  the 
Floridas  to  the  south,  but  the  Canadas  to  the  north 
of  this  Empire."  John  C.  Calhoun,  a  new  member 
from  South  Carolina,  openly  repudiated  the  restric 
tive  system  of  the  President  as  a  mode  of  resistance 
suited  neither  to  the  genius  of  the  people  nor  to  the 
geographical  character  of  the  country.  "  WTe  have  had 
a  peace  like  a  war,"  he  cried  ;  "  in  the  name  of 
Heaven  let  us  not  have  the  only  thing  that  is  worse 
—  a  war  like  a  peace  !  "  Clay  left  the  chair  fre 
quently  to  stir  the  House  by  his  glowing  eloquence. 
Whatever  else  might  be  said  about  these  young  stal 
warts,  no  one  could  doubt  their  ardent  nationalism 
and  devotion  to  the  Union.  Even  the  President  was 


208          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

moved  to  allude  gently  in  his  annual  message  to  the 
duty  of  assuming  *'  an  attitude  demanded  by  the 
crisis  and  corresponding  with  the  national  spirit  and 
expectations." 

The  response  of  Congress  was  exasperatingly 
slow.  It  was  January  before  a  bill  to  increase  the 
standing  army  by  twenty-five  thousand  men  became 
law.  Another  month  passed  before  Congress  would 
agree  to  a  bill  authorizing  the  President  to  raise  a 
volunteer  force  of  fifty  thousand  men.  No  argu 
ments  would  move  the  House  to  vote  an  appropria 
tion  of  seven  and  a  half  million  dollars  for  a  navy 
of  twenty  frigates  and  twelve  ships-of-the-line.  Even 
more  discouraging  was  the  reluctance  of  Congress  to 
anticipate  the  financial  drain  of  war  by  levying  the 
internal  revenue  taxes  which  Gallatin  strongly  recom 
mended,  now  that  Congress  had  suffered  the  charter 
of  the  National  Bank  to  expire.  Without  that  im 
portant  instrument  of  credit,  he  saw  no  alternative 
but  to  revive  the  excise  which  was  so  hateful  to  Re 
publicans.  In  the  end  Congress  authorized  a  loan 
of  eleven  million  dollars,  but  no  additional  taxes. 

From  the  first  the  war  party  had  fixed  upon 
Great  Britain  as  the  object  of  attack.  In  the  sober 
light  of  history,  France  appears  to  be  quite  as  much 
an  enemy  to  American  commerce.  But  so  long  as 
the  Administration  maintained  that  Napoleon  had 
withdrawn  his  decrees,  and  that  England  had  not, 
consistency  required  that  Great  Britain  should  be 
regarded  as  the  greater  offender.  Reparation  had 
been  made  for  the  Chesapeake  affair,  to  be  sure, 
but  no  guaranties  had  been  given  that  the  rights  of 


as  «  « 


3 


3M«$ 


I 


THE   APPROACH   OF  WAR  209 

neutral  vessels  would  be  respected  on  the  high  seaso 
Besides,  the  group  of  young  Republicans  led  by 
Clay  and  Grundy  had  looked  forward  to  the  con 
quest  of  Canada  on  the  north  and  of  Florida  on  the 
south  as  the  result  of  war.  Madison  was  too  keen  a 
politician  not  to  know  that  he  could  not  afford  to 
alienate  this  group  if  he  wished  a  second  term  in 
office.  On  April  1,  he  recommended  an  embargo  for 
sixty  days,  and  two  months  later,  on  June  1,  he  sent 
his  famous  war  message  to  Congress. 

In  reciting  the  grievances  of  the  United  States, 
the  President  thrust  into  the  foreground  "  the  con 
tinued  practice  of  violating  the  American  flag  on  the 
great  highway  of  nations,  and  of  seizing  and  carry 
ing  off  persons  sailing  under  it."  No  one  could  deny 
that  these  were  real  grievances,  but  they  had  not 
been  pressed  in  recent  negotiations  as  a  possible 
cause  of  war.  A  second  grievance  was  the  blockade 
of  American  ports  by  British  cruisers.  "  They  hover 
over  and  harass  our  entering  and  departing  com 
merce,"  said  the  President.  "  To  the  most  insulting 
pretentious  they  have  added  the  most  lawless  pro 
ceedings  in  our  very  harbors  ;  and  have  wantonly  spilt 
American  blood  within  the  sanctuary  of  our  terri 
torial  jurisdiction."  This  grievance  was  also  real, 
but  not  of  recent  date.  When  the  President  alluded 
to  "  pretended  blockades "  under  which  "  our  com 
merce  has  been  plundered  in  every  sea,"  he  touched 
upon  outrages  which  were  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of 
all.  "Not  content  with  these  occasional  expedients 
for  laying  waste  our  neutral  trade,"  continued  the 
message,  "  the  Cabinet  of  Great  Britain  resorted,  at 


210          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

length,  to  the  sweeping  system  of  blockades,  under 
the  name  of  Orders  in  Council."  Finally,  the  Presi 
dent  did  not  refrain  from  the  plain  intimation  that 
the  Indian  hostilities  on  the  frontier  were  due  to  the 
influence  of  British  traders  and  British  garrisons. 

Three  days  later  the  House  of  Representatives 
passed  a  bill  declaring  war  by  a  vote  of  79  to  49. 
The  opposition  came  largely  from  the  Northeast. 
The  representatives  from  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island  were  to  a  man  against  war,  and  they  were 
supported  by  Federalists  from  Massachusetts,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  and  Delaware.  In 
the  Senate  the  vote  stood  19  for  war  and  13  against 
it.  "  Except  Pennsylvania,  the  entire  representa 
tion  of  no  Northern  State  declared  itself  for  the  war; 
except  Kentucky,  every  State  south  of  the  Potomac 
and  Ohio  voted  for  the  declaration." 

While  Congress  was  debating  the  alternatives  of 
peace  or  war,  the  British  Government  took  a  step 
which  under  modern  conditions  would  have  averted 
hostilities.  Taking  advantage  of  a  decree  of  Napo 
leon  dating  from  1810,  which  declared  his  edicts  re 
voked  so  far  as  American  vessels  were  concerned, 
the  Ministry  announced  on  June  23  that  the  British 
orders  would  be  withdrawn.  But  just  five  days  earlier, 
President  Madison  had  proclaimed  a  state  of  war  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

A  brief  account  of  the  events  which  formed  the  prelude  to  the 
War  of  1812  may  be  found  in  K.  C.  Babcock,  The  Rise  of  American 
Nationality  (in  The  American  Nation,  vol.  13,  190G).  The  diplo- 


THE  APPROACH  OF  WAR  211 

matic  and  military  antecedents  of  the  war  are  set  forth  at  greater 
length  in  A.  T.  Mahan,  Sea  Power  in  its  Relation  to  the  War  of  1812 
(2  vols.,  1905).  Biographies  contribute  much  that  is  of  interest. 
Carl  Schurz,  Henry  Clay  (2  vols.,  1887),  is  one  of  the  best.  J.  T. 
Morse,  John  Quincy  Adams  (1882),  and  Edmund  Quincy,  Life  of 
Josiah  Quincy  of  Massachusetts  (1867),  also  contain  interesting 
information.  M.  P.  Follett,  The  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  (1896);  Edward  Stanwood,  History  of  the  Presidency 
(1898);  and  M.  L.  Hinsdale,  History  of  the  President's  Cabinet 
(1911),  touch  upon  important  aspects  of  politics.  The  volume  en 
titled  Memoirs  and  Letters  of  Dolly  Madison  (1886)  gives  many 
charming  glimpses  of  social  life  at  the  capital.  The  discomforts 
and  hazards  of  travel  in  the  West  are  described  with  great  vivacity 
by  Margaret  Van  Horn,  A  Journey  to  Ohio  in  1810  (1912). 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE    WAR    OF    1812 

WHEN  hostilities  began  in  North  America,  the 
war  establishment  of  the  United  States  stood  offi 
cially  at  36,700  men.  Actually  the  army  consisted 
of  ten  regiments  with  ranks  half  filled,  scattered  in 
garrisons  from  Mackinac  to  Lake  Champlain,  —  a 
force  of  less  than  10,000  men,  of  whom  4000  were 
raw  recruits.  The  staff  was  made  up  of  old  and 
incompetent  officers ;  and  from  a  military  point  of 
view  the  new  appointments  left  much  to  be  desired. 
The  navy  which  was  to  contest  the  supremacy  of  the 
seas  with  the  victor  at  Trafalgar  consisted  of  twelve 
sea-going  vessels  and  some  two  hundred  gunboats, 
which  were  useless  except  for  coast  defense.  There 
was  bitter  truth  in  the  manifesto  issued  by  the  Fed 
eralist  members  of  Congress  when  it  said:  "Our 
enemy  is  the  greatest  maritime  power  that  has  ever 
been  on  earth,  and  to  her  we  offer  the  most  tempt 
ing  prizes.  Our  merchantmen  are  on  every  sea.  Our 
rich  cities  lie  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard  close  to 
the  water's  edge.  And  to  defend  these  from  the 
cruisers  of  Great  Britain  we  are  to  have  an  army  of 
raw  recruits  yet  to  be  raised  and  a  navy  of  gun 
boats  now  stranded  on  the  beaches  and  frigates  that 
have  long  been  rotting  in  the  slime  of  the  Potomac." 

The  worst  aspect  of  the  war  was  its  sectional 
character.  New  England  was  in  opposition.  From 


THE  WAR  OF   1812  213 

the  outset  the  activity  of  the  National  Administra 
tion  was  weakened  by  the  indubitable  fact  that  the 
United  States,  as  the  Federalists  were  never  tired 
of  repeating,  began  the  war  "  as  a  divided  people." 
When  General  Dearborn  made  requisition  upon  the 
governors  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  for 
militia  to  defend  the  coast,  Governor  Strong  ignored 
the  summons.  Pressed  for  a  reply,  he  finally  stated 
to  the  Secretary  of  Wrar  that  the  judges  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  Massachusetts  had  advised  him  that 
the  commanders-in-chief  of  the  militia  in  the  several 
States,  rather  than  the  President,  had  the  right  to  de 
termine  whether  any  of  the  exigencies  contemplated 
by  the  Constitution  existed  so  as  to  require  them  to 
place  the  militia  in  the  service  of  the  United  States. 
The  judges  also  advised  the  governor  that  the  militia, 
when  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  could  not 
lawfully  be  commanded  by  any  federal  officers  below 
the  President,  but  only  by  state  officers.  The  gen 
eral  assembly  of  Connecticut  sustained  Governor 
Griswold  in  a  similar  attitude  toward  the  federal 
authorities,  holding  that  the  war  was  an  offensive 
war  to  which  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  re 
specting  the  militia  did  not  apply. 

From  the  first  the  war-hawks  had  cried,  "  On  to 
Canada,"  for  their  hope  of  conquest  was  undisguised. 
"Agrarian  cupidity,"  declared  Randolph,  "  not  mari 
time  right,  urges  the  war.  Ever  since  the  report  of 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  came  into  the 
House,  we  have  heard  but  one  word,  — like  the  whip- 
poorwill,  but  one  eternal  monotonous  tone, — Canada, 
Canada,  Canada !  "  Military  considerations,  how- 


214          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

ever,  probably  determined  the  campaign  of  1812, 
—  so  far,  indeed,  as  any  well-considered  plans  were 
worked  out.  A  general  advance  was  to  be  made  along 
the  route  by  Lake  Champlain  to  Montreal.  Three 
expeditions  were  also  to  be  sent  against  Sackett's 
Harbor,  Niagara,  and  Maiden.  All  were  strategic 
points  on  the  Lakes ;  but  Maiden  was  particularly 
important  as  the  center  of  British  influence  among 
the  Indians  of  the  Northwest. 

The  expedition  against  Maiden,  which  was  en 
trusted  to  General  William  Hull,  not  only  failed  to 
accomplish  its  purpose,  but  terminated  in  the  most 
humiliating  reverse  of  the  war.  For  reasons  that 
have  never  been  adequately  explained,  Hull  laid  siege 
to  Maiden  instead  of  attacking  it  at  once  with  his 
superior  force ;  and  when  British  reinforcements  ap 
peared,  he  not  only  abandoned  the  siege,  but  on 
August  15,  surrendered  Fort  Detroit  without  firing 
a  shot.  The  army,  the  fort,  and  the  undisputed  con 
trol  of  the  Michigan  country  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  British.  On  the  same  day  occurred  the  sur 
render  of  Fort  Dearborn  and  the  massacre  of  its 
garrison  by  the  Indians. 

The  other  military  operations  on  the  northern 
frontier  were  scarcely  less  inglorious.  The  failure  of 
the  attack  upon  Queenston,  October  13,  was  due 
largely  to  the  incompetence  of  the  commanding  gen 
eral.  Nowhere  did  the  American  troops  pierce  the 
Niagara  or  Lake  Champlain  frontier.  The  Duke  of 
Wellington  was  well  within  the  truth  when  he  de 
clared  the  American  campaign  of  1812  "  beneath 
criticism." 


THE   WAR   OF   1812  215 

The  smart  of  these  humiliating  failures  was  only 
relieved  by  the  series  of  stirring  naval  victories  which 
began  with  the  duel  between  the  Constitution  and 
the  Guerriere.  The  frigates  met  on  August  19,  some 
three  hundred  miles  off  Cape  Race.  "  In  less  than 
thirty  minutes  from  the  time  we  got  alongside  of  the 
enemy,"  reported  Captain  Hull  of  the  Constitution, 
"  she  was  left  without  a  spar  standing,  and  the  hull 
cut  to  pieces  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  difficult 
to  keep  her  above  water."  The  effect  of  this  victory 
was  electric.  When  the  Constitution  reached  Boston 
Harbor,  even  Federalists  broke  into  exultation.  The 
cry  in  every  New  England  home  was,  "  Thank  God 
for  Hull's  victory !  "  Nothing  could  have  been  better 
timed  and  more  dramatic.  The  papers  which  an 
nounced  the  humiliating:  surrender  of  General  Hull 

O 

contained  the  news  of  his  nephew's  victory. 

If  the  victory  of  the  Constitution  was  won  on  un 
equal  terms,  —  the  Guerriere  was  undoubtedly  in 
ferior,  —  the  British  Admiralty  could  not  excuse  a 
second  naval  defeat  on  this  score.  On  October  17, 
the  American  sloop-of-war  Wasp  encountered  the 
brig  Frolic  convoying  merchantmen  six  hundred 
miles  east  of  Norfolk.  There  was  little  to  choose  be 
tween  the  vessels  either  in  size  or  equipment,  yet  the 
marksmanship  of  the  American  gunners  was  so  far 
superior  that  in  forty-three  minutes  the  crew  of  the 
Wasp  had  boarded  the  Frolic.  Not  even  the  subse 
quent  capture  of  both  vessels  by  a  British  ship-of-the- 
line  could  dim  the  glory  of  this  victory.  A  week 
later  the  frigate  United  States  under  Captain  Decatur 
captured  the  Macedonian  and  brought  her  into  New 


216          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

London  —  "  the  only  British  frigate  ever  brought  as  a 
prize  into  an  American  port."  In  December  the  Con 
stitution,  now  commanded  by  Captain  Bainbridge, 
added  to  her  laurels  by  overpowering  the  powerful 
frigate  Java. 

The  effect  of  these  disasters  upon  the  British  pub 
lic  was  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  actual  value  of 
the  vessels  lost.  Canning  afterward  declared  that  the 
loss  of  the  Guerriere  and  the  Macedonian  produced  a 
sensation  scarcely  to  be  equaled  by  the  most  violent 
convulsion  of  nature.  "The  sacred  spell  of  the  in 
vincibility  of  the  British  navy  was  broken  by  those 
unfortunate  captures." 

In  the  midst  of  the  war  occurred  a  presidential 
election.  Madison  had  been  the  unanimous  choice 
of  the  congressional  caucus  held  in  May ;  but  only 
eighty-three  out  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  Re 
publicans  had  attended,  and  the  discontent  of  New 
York  Republicans  was  well  known.  The  nomination 
of  De  Witt  Clinton  by  the  New  York  legislative 
caucus  opened  wide  the  breach  in  the  party.  In  Sep 
tember  a  convention  of  Federalists  repeated  the  error 
of  1804  and  indorsed  Clinton's  nomination,  naming 
as  his  partner  Jared  Ingersoll,  of  Pennsylvania.  El- 
bridge  Gerry,  of  Massachusetts,  was  finally  nomi 
nated  for  Vice-President  by  the  Republicans.  The 
alternatives  presented  to  the  people  seemed  to  be 
Madison  and  continued  war  ineffectively  conducted, 
or  Clinton  and  still  more  humiliating  peace.  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  all  the  New  Eng 
land  States  but  Vermont,  preferred  Clinton.  The 
South  and  West  supported  Madison ;  but  without  the 


THE  WAR  OF   1812  217 

vote  of  Pennsylvania  Madison  would  have  been  de 
feated. 

To  retrieve  Hull's  disaster,  General  William 
Henry  Harrison,  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe,  was  placed 
in  command  of  the  Western  army  in  the  fall  of  1812  ; 
but  a  succession  of  mishaps  overtook  his  expedition 
into  the  Northwest.  He  not  only  failed  to  reach  De 
troit,  but  lost  most  of  his  available  troops  by  disease, 
desertion,  and  the  onset  of  British  detachments  from 
Fort  Maiden. 

It  was  now  clear  that  the  control  of  the  Lakes  was 
indispensable  for  a  successful  invasion  of  Canada. 
At  the  close  of  the  year  1812,  there  was  not  a  war- 
vessel  flying  the  American  flag  on  Lake  Erie.  To 
create  a  fleet  was  the  task  set  for  Oliver  Hazard 
Perry,  a  young  naval  officer,  who  was  sent  from 
Newport  to  Presqu'  Isle.  Of  the  needful  supplies 
only  timber  was  abundant ;  the  rest  had  to  be 
brought  overland  from  Philadelphia  by  way  of  Pitts- 
burg.  Surmounting  all  obstacles,  nevertheless,  the 
energetic  Perry  finally  got  together  a  flotilla  of  ves 
sels  which  was  quite  equal  to  the  British  squadron. 
The  two  fleets  met  in  battle  off  Sandusky  on  Sep 
tember  10,  1813.  The  American  boat  Lawrence, 
Perry's  flagship,  was  obliged  to  strike  her  colors,  but 
Perry  boarded  another  vessel  of  his  fleet  and  suc 
ceeded  in  turning  defeat  into  a  brilliant  victory. 
"  We  have  met  the  enemy  and  they  are  ours,"  was 
his  triumphant  dispatch  to  General  Harrison. 

The  way  was  now  open  to  the  invasion  of  Canada. 
Under  the  protection  of  Perry's  fleet,  Harrison  was 
able  to  transport  his  army  to  the  Canadian  shore 


218          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

below  Fort  Maiden.  The  British  troops  were  already 
in  full  retreat.  On  October  5,  1813,  the  American 
army  overtook  them  and  in  a  short  but  decisive  battle 
on  the  river  Thames  revenged  the  loss  of  Detroit. 
Among  the  dead  on  the  British  side  was  found  the 
body  of  Tecumseh.  In  point  of  numbers,  the  battle 
of  the  Thames  is  insignificant ;  but  it  has  an  impor 
tant  place  in  the  annals  of  the  war  because  it  de 
stroyed  the  British  military  power  in  the  Northwest 
and  recovered  control  of  the  Michigan  Territory. 

No  such  success  attended  the  movement  of  Ameri 
can  troops  on  the  Niagara  and  St.  Lawrence  frontier. 
The  control  of  Lake  Ontario  was  in  doubt  through 
out  the  year  1813.  The  military  operations,  first 
under  Dearborn,  and  then  under  Wilkinson  and 
Hampton,  were  indecisive.  Indeed,  the  events  of  the 
year  served  only  one  good  purpose :  they  revealed 
the  incompetence  of  the  older  generals  and  the  ability 
of  the  younger  officers. 

The  loss  of  the  Chesapeake  in  a  duel  with  the 
Shannon,  on  June  1,  1813,  outside  of  Boston  Har 
bor,  left  the  United  States  with  an  available  sea-go 
ing  navy  of  just  two  frigates  and  a  few  small  sloops. 
All  the  other  frigates  were  shut  up  in  various  ports 
by  the  British  blockade,  which  extended  from  Cape 
Cod  to  Florida.  The  burden  of  offense  during  the 
rest  of  the  war  fell  upon  privateers.  During  the 
war  more  than  five  hundred  fitted  out  in  American 
ports.  In  the  year  1813  they  took  over  three  hun 
dred  prizes,  while  the  frigates  took  but  seventy-nine. 
While  British  cruisers  were  blockading  the  coast  of 
the  United  States,  these  craft,  with  their  beautiful 


THE   WAR   OF   1812  219 

lines  and  wonderful  spread  of  canvas,  carried  con 
sternation  to  all  British  shippers  in  the  English 
Channel  and  in  the  Irish  Sea.  They  "  seize  prizes  in 
sight  of  those  that  should  afford  protection,"  com 
plained  the  London  Times,  "  and  if  pursued  put  on 
their  sea-wings  and  laugh  at  the  clumsy  English  pur 
suers."  No  exploits  of  the  regular  navy  contributed 
so  much  to  dispose  the  British  governing  class  to 
peace  as  the  depredations  of  these  privateers. 

In  the  remote  Southwest,  the  war  assumed  a  dif 
ferent  character.  There  the  enemy  on  the  border 
was  not  Great  Britain  but  Spain.  The  people  of  the 
Carolinas  and  Georgia  fully  expected  to  acquire  the 
Floridas  while  the  North  was  wresting  Canada  from 
British  control.  Had  President  Madison  been  given 
his  way,  this  wish  would  have  been  gratified  ;  but 
Congress  refused  to  countenance  the  seizure  of  East 
Florida,  and  in  May,  1813,  Madison  very  reluctantly 
ordered  the  troops  to  evacuate  Amelia  Island.  No 
scruples  deterred  Congress  from  authorizing  the 
occupation  of  West  Florida.  In  the  spring  of  1813, 
General  Wilkinson  forced  the  surrender  of  the  only 
Spanish  fort  on  Mobile  Bay  and  took  possession  of 
the  country  as  far  as  the  Perdido  —  "  the  only  per 
manent  gain  of  territory  made  during  the  war." 

During  the  first  year  of  the  war  the  younger  war 
riors  of  the  Western  Creeks,  in  what  is  now  Ala 
bama,  had  been  incited  to  hostilities  by  Tecumseh, 
and  in  the  following  spring  began  depredations  which 
culminated  in  the  capture  of  Fort  Minis  and  the 
massacre  of  its  inhabitants  on  August  30,  1813. 
The  horrors  of  an  Indian  war  brought  every  able- 


220          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

bodied  settler  in  the  adjoining  States  to  arms.  Before 
the  end  of  the  year  seven  thousand  whites  had  in 
vaded  the  Indian  territory  and  had  killed  about  one 
fifth  of  the  Creek  warriors.  The  hero  of  the  war  was 
General  Andrew  Jackson,  who  at  the  head  of  an 
army  of  Tennessee  militiamen  won  a  decisive  battle 
at  Horseshoe  Bend  on  the  Tallapoosa  River.  On 
August  9,  1814,  he  forced  the  chieftains  who  had 
not  fled  across  the  Florida  border  to  sign  a  treaty 
of  capitulation  at  Fort  Jackson  and  to  cede  nearly 
two  thirds  of  their  lands  in  southern  Georgia  arid  in 
what  afterward  became  central  Alabama.  This  phase 
of  the  war  opened  up  a  vast  territory  to  settlement 
and  made  the  military  reputation  of  Andrew  Jackson. 

Operations  on  the  Niagara  frontier  were  resumed 
by  the  American  troops  in  1814;  but  they  were  now 
directed  by  one  of  the  new  major-generals,  Jacob 
Brown,  who  infused  a  new  spirit  into  his  soldiers. 
On  July  5,  General  Winfield  Scott's  brigade  won  a 
signal  victory  at  Chippewa.  Three  weeks  later,  on 
July  25,  the  entire  army  fought  a  desperate  battle 
at  Lundy's  Lane,  which  lasted  from  sunset  to  mid 
night.  The  Americans  claimed  a  victory,  but  the 
losses  were  about  even  and  the  British  remained  in 
possession  of  the  field.  At  the  close  of  the  year, 
despite  the  valiant  fighting  of  Brown's  army,  the 
situation  on  the  Niagara  had  not  changed  materially. 
The  invasion  of  Canada  and  a  peace  dictated  from 
Quebec  seemed  as  remote  as  ever. 

The  British  plans  for  the  campaign  of  1814  called 
for  "  a  diversion  on  the  coasts  of  the  United  States, 
in  favor  of  the  a.rmy  employed  in  the  defense  of 


THE   WAR  OF   1812  221 

Upper  and  Lower  Canada."  For  the  first  time  since 
the  opening  of  hostilities,  British  military  authorities 
could  concentrate  their  attention  on  the  war  in  North 
America.  The  defeat  of  Napoleon  on  the  plains  of 
Leipzig'  had  thrown  his  shattered  columns  back  upon 
France.  Thither  the  allied  armies  had  followed  him 
and  forced  his  capitulation.  With  the  end  of  Eu 
ropean  wars  in  sight,  Wellington  could  release  his 
veteran  troops  for  service  in  America.  In  early  sum 
mer  eleven  thousand  seasoned  troops  were  sent  to 
Canada.  Four  thousand  more  were  dispatched  under 
Major-General  Ross,  of  the  Peninsular  army,  to 
cooperate  with  the  navy  under  Admiral  Cochrane  on 
the  shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  Later  in  the  year 
Major-General  Pakenham,  also  a  veteran  of  the 
Peninsular  campaign,  was  sent  with  ten  thousand 
troops  to  seize  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  to 
force  the  capitulation  of  the  West  by  closing  the 
ports  on  the  Gulf. 

Those  whose  memories  went  back  thirty-seven 
years  may  well  have  recalled  Burgoyne's  expedition, 
for  it  was  by  the  old  Lake  Champlain  route  that  Sir 
George  Prevost  began  his  invasion  of  New  York  in 
September,  1814.  His  objective  was  Plattsburg, 
where  an  American  army  of  not  more  than  two 
thousand  men  was  stationed.  Accompanying  his 
army,  to  insure  its  line  of  communication  with  Can 
ada,  was  a  fleet  consisting  of  a  frigate,  a  brig,  and  a 
dozen  smaller  vessels.  To  this  fleet,  Captain  Thomas 
Macdonough  could  oppose  only  a  corvette  and  a 
dozen  small  craft.  The  fleets  met  in  a  battle  for  the 
control  of  the  lake  on  September  11.  The  resource- 


222          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

fulness  of  the  young  American  officer  saved  the  day. 
By  winding  his  corvette,  the  Saratoga,  about,  so  as 
to  bring  her  unused  guns  to  bear  just  when  the  fight 
seemed  lost,  he  forced  the  formidable  Confiance  to 
strike  her  colors.  The  surrender  of  the  smaller  Brit 
ish  boats  followed.  The  battle  of  Plattsburg  was  de 
cisive  of  the  invasion.  Fearing  greater  disasters  if 
he  pressed  on  without  the  control  of  the  waterway 
at  his  rear,  Prevost  at  once  ordered  a  retreat. 

The  expedition  directed  toward  Chesapeake  Bay 
was  well  under  way  before  Prevost's  ill-starred  inva 
sion  began.  On  August  19,  General  Ross  landed 
his  forces  on  the  banks  of  Patuxent  River,  within 
striking  distance  of  Washington.  Marching  leisurely 
across  country  toward  the  capital,  the  British  finally 
met  at  Bladensburg  a  motley  array  of  some  seven 
thousand  Americans,  hastily  summoned  from  the 
countryside.  What  followed  is  not  easily  described. 
Some  show  of  resistance  was  made  by  the  marines 
from  the  American  gunboats  in  the  Patuxent ;  but 
for  the  most  part  the  Americans  were  seized  with  a 
panic  and  fled  in  wild  disorder.  The  President  and 
his  Cabinet  took  to  the  Virginia  woods,  leaving  the 
enemy  to  wreak  their  vengeance  on  the  government 
buildings.  Having  fired  the  Capitol,  the  White 
House,  and  other  edifices,  the  British  forces  returned 
to  their  fleet  and  reembarked.  The  historian  can  take 
no  pleasure  in  dwelling  upon  details  which  are  dis 
creditable  to  all  concerned  ;  for  if  the  British  com 
mitted  acts  of  vandalism,  the  Americans  had  pro 
voked  retaliation  when  they  burned  the  parliament 
houses  at  York  in  the  campaign  of  1813. 


THE   WAR  OF  1812  223 

An  attack  upon  Baltimore  which  might  have  re 
sulted  in  further  outrages  was  frustrated  by  the 
measures  of  defense  which  the  government  of  the 
city  had  already  wisely  undertaken.  After  a  skir 
mish  in  which  General  Ross  was  killed,  and  an  in 
effective  bombardment  of  the  harbor  defenses,  the 
British  withdrew. 

A  visitor  to  the  national  capital  after  its  capture 
described  the  President  as  "  miserably  shattered  and 
woe-begone,"  and  heart-broken  at  the  defection  of 
New  England.  To  prosecute  the  war,  money  and  men 
were  needed  ;  but  both  were  wanting.  The  Adminis 
tration  hoped,  but  hoped  in  vain,  that  the  victories 
at  Chippewa,  Lundy's  Lane,  and  Plattsburg  would 
stimulate  enlistments  ;  but  recruits  were  not  likely 
to  be  lured  by  promises  which  every  one  knew  the 
Government  could  not  redeem.  It  became  clearer 
every  day  that  unless  Congress  was  disposed  to  adopt 
Monroe's  plan  of  conscription,  the  National  Govern 
ment  would  have  to  put  its  dependence  upon  state 
armies.  In  September,  after  Castine  and  the  eastern 
part  of  Maine  to  the  Penobscot  had  been  occupied 
by  the  British,  Governor  Strong  consented  to  call 
out  the  militia  of  Massachusetts,  but  he  was  careful 
to  place  the  troops  under  the  command  of  state  offi 
cers.  At  the  same  time  he  made  inquiry  of  the  Sec 
retary  of  War  whether  the  expenses  of  the  militia 
would  be  assumed  by  the  National  Government. 
Monroe  replied  rather  sharply  that  so  long  as  Mas 
sachusetts  refused  to  put  her  troops  under  the  com 
mand  of  national  officers,  she  need  not  expect  the 
United  States  to  maintain  them.  The  Governor  of 


224  UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

Connecticut  had  already  withdrawn  the  militia  of 
that  State  from  national  service.  At  the  moment 
when  Prevost  was  beginning  his  invasion,  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Vermont  declined  to  call  out  the  state  mili 
tia  because  he  doubted  his  authority  to  order  the 
militia  out  of  the  State.  The  Union  seemed  on  the 
point  of  disintegrating  into  its  original  elements. 

The  anxieties  of  the  Administration  were  further 
increased  by  the  action  of  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court,  which  called  a  convention  of  those  States 
"  the  affinity  of  whose  interests  is  closest,"  with  the 
avowed  purpose  of  devising  some  mode  of  common 
defense  and  of  securing  a  convention  of  delegates 
from  all  the  States  to  revise  the  National  Constitu 
tion.  In  spite  of  vigorous  opposition,  delegates  were 
chosen,  to  meet  on  December  15  with  "  such  as  may 
be  chosen  by  any  or  all  of  the  other  New  England 
States."  The  legislatures  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island  responded  promptly ;  but  the  legislature  of 
Vermont  unanimously  declined  the  invitation,  and 
New  Hampshire  failed  to  reply.  The  movement 
seemed  all  the  more  ominous  after  the  fall  elections, 
which  resulted  in  the  choice  of  thirty-nine  Federal 
ist  Congressmen  from  New  England  and  of  only  two 
Republicans.  In  the  preceding  Congress  there  had 
been  thirty  Federalists  and  eleven  Republicans. 

That  members  of  the  Essex  Junto  would  gladly 
have  seized  this  opportunity  to  remake  the  Federal 
Union  by  excluding  the  Western  States  appears 
clearly  enough  in  the  correspondence  of  men  like 
Timothy  Pickering.  A  new  Union  of  the  "  good  old 
thirteen  States"  on  terms  set  by  New  England  was 


THE   WAR   OF   1812  225 

believed  to  be  well  within  the  bounds  of  possibility. 
Radical  newspapers  referred  with  enthusiasm  to  the 
erection  of  a  new  federal  edifice.  Little  wonder  that 
the  harassed  President  was  obsessed  with  the  idea 
that  New  England  was  on  the  verge  of  secession. 

From  the  first,  however,  this  movement  in  New 
England  was  kept  well  in  hand  by  men  like  Harri 
son  Gray  Otis,  who  always  insisted  that  the  object 
of  a  convention  was  to  defend  New  England  against 
the  common  enemy  and  to  prevent  radical  action 
under  the  stress  of  popular  excitement.  If  this  be 
true,  it  was  unfortunate,  to  say  the  least,  that  these 
patriots  chose  just  this  moment,  when  the  Federal 
Government  was  about  to  succumb  to  the  common 
enemy,  to  propose  alterations  in  the  Constitution ; 
and  it  was  equally  unfortunate  for  the  reputations 
of  all  concerned  that  they  should  have  held  their 
deliberations  in  secret,  giving  an  air  of  conspiracy  to 
their  proceedings.  The  official  journal  of  the  Con 
vention  at  Hartford  was  not  published  until  1823. 
When  the  Convention  adjourned  on  January  5, 
1815,  all  that  the  general  public  was  permitted  to 
know  of  its  deliberations  was  contained  in  its  famous 
report. 

The  Convention  was  at  no  little  pains  to  reassure 
a  waiting  world  that  it  did  not  contemplate  or  coun 
tenance  secession.  It  was  not  yet  ready  to  concede 
that  the  defects  in  the  Constitution  were  incurable 
nor  that  multiplied  abuses  justified  a  severance  of 
the  Union,  "  especially  in  a  time  of  war."  "  If  the 
Union  be  destined  to  dissolution,  ...  it  should,  if 
possible,  be  the  work  of  peaceable  times,  and  delib- 


226          UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 

erate  consent."  But  these  philosophical  consider 
ations  did  not  deter  the  author  of  the  report  from  a 
vicious  and  partisan  attack  upon  "  the  multiplied 
abuses  of  bad  administrations." 

President  Madison  must  have  read  this  document 
with  mingled  feelings,  for  the  Convention  held,  al 
most  in  the  words  of  his  Resolutions  of  1798,  that 
the  infractions  of  the  Constitution  were  so  "  deliber 
ate,  dangerous,  and  palpable  "as  to  put  the  liberties 
of  the  people  in  jeopardy  and  to  make  it  the  duty  of 
a  State  "  to  interpose  its  authority  for  their  protec 
tion."  The  legislatures  of  the  several  States  were 
recommended  to  adopt  measures  for  protecting  their 
citizens  against  all  unconstitutional  acts  of  Congress 
which  should  subject  the  militia  or  other  citizens  to 
forcible  drafts,  conscriptions,  or  impressments.  They 
were  also  urged  to  apply  to  the  Federal  Government 
for  consent  to  some  arrangement  whereby  the  States, 
separately  or  in  concert,  could  undertake  their  own 
defense  and  retain  a  reasonable  proportion  of  the  na 
tional  taxes  for  the  purpose.  Finally,  seven  amend 
ments  to  the  Constitution  were  proposed,  to  prevent 
a  recurrence  of  the  grievances  from  which  the  New 
England  States  suffered.  Four  of  these  proposed 
amendments  put  limitations  upon  Congress  :  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  both  houses  was  to  be  required  to  ad 
mit  a  new  State,  to  interdict  commerce,  to  lay  an 
embargo,  and  to  declare  war.  In  future,  representa 
tion  and  direct  taxes  were  to  be  apportioned  according 
to  the  respective  numbers  of  free  persons.  Natural 
ized  citizens  were  to  be  excluded  from  all  federal 
civil  offices;  and  finally  —  a  blow  at  the  Virginia 


THE   WAR   OF   1812  227 

dynasty  —  "  the  same  person  shall  not  be  elected 
President  of  the  United  States  a  second  time ;  nor 
shall  the  President  be  elected  from  the  same  State 
two  terms  in  succession." 

The  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  acted  promptly. 
Three  commissioners  were  dispatched  at  once  to 
Washington,  to  work  out  an  amicable  arrangement 
for  the  defense  of  the  State.  On  February  3,  1815, 
the  "  three  ambassadors,"  as  they  styled  themselves, 
set  out  for  the  capital.  Ten  days  later,  en  route, 
they  learned  that  General  Andrew  Jackson  had 
decisively  repulsed  an  attack  of  the  British  upon 
New  Orleans  on  January  8.  On  reaching  Washing 
ton  the  commissioners  were  met  with  the  news  that 
a  treaty  of  peace  had  been  signed  at  Ghent.  Their 
cause  had  met  with  the  most  unlucky  fate  which  can 
befall  any  cause  in  the  United  States :  it  had  be 
come  ridiculous.  The  tension  of  war-times  relaxed 
in  a  roar  of  laughter  at  their  expense. 

Early  in  the  year  1813,  Russia  had  endeavored 
to  mediate  between  her  ally  and  the  United  States. 
President  Madison  had  at  once,  and  as  it  appeared 
somewhat  precipitately,  sent  Albert  Gallatin  and 
James  A.  Bayard  as  peace  commissioners  to  St. 
Petersburg ;  but  Great  Britain  declined  the  Czar's 
good  offices.  The  American  envoys,  however,  re 
mained  in  Europe.  When,  then,  in  October,  the 
British  Ministry  intimated  that  it  was  prepared  to 
begin  direct  negotiations,  President  Madison  created 
a  new  commission  by  sending  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Henry  Clay,  and  Jonathan  Russell  to  join  Gallatin 
and  Bayard.  In  the  last  week  in  June,  the  conmiis- 


228          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

sioners  repaired  to  Ghent,  which  had  been  chosen  as 
the  place  of  meeting.  Thither  the  British  negoti 
ators  followed  them  in  leisurely  fashion.  The  first 
joint  conference  was  not  held  until  August  8,  1814. 

The  task  of  the  American  commissioners  was  one 
of  very  great  difficulty.  Confronted  by  the  unex 
pected  demand  that  the  revision  of  the  Canadian 
boundary,  the  fisheries,  and  the  establishment  of  an 
Indian  state  in  the  Northwest  should  be  included  in 
the  pourparler,  they  could  only  reply  that  they  had 
been  instructed  to  discuss  only  matters  of  maritime 
law  —  impressments,  blockades,  and  neutral  rights. 
There  seemed  so  little  likelihood  of  agreement  that 
the  American  commissioners  prepared  to  leave 
Ghent.  But  the  British  Ministry  abated  its  extreme 
demands  and  continued  the  negotiations.  At  the 
same  time  new  instructions  from  Washington  ad 
vised  the  American  representatives  that  they  might 
drop  the  subject  of  impressments  if  they  found  it  an 
insuperable  obstacle  in  the  way  of  peace. 

The  insistence  of  the  British  agents  upon  the 
principle  of  uti  possidetis  —  the  state  of  possession 
at  the  close  of  the  war  —  again  threatened  to  break 
off  negotiations,  for  the  Americans  resolutely  insisted 
on  the  status  quo  ante  helium,  a  restoration  of  all 
places  taken  during  the  war.  It  was  at  this  juncture 
that  tidings  arrived  of  the  British  repulse  at  Platts- 
burg.  For  a  week  the  British  Ministry  debated  the 
feasibility  of  renewing  the  war ;  but  the  complications 
at  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  the  "prodigious  expense" 
of  continued  war,  the  change  in  public  opinion,  and 
the  emphatic  conviction  of  Wellington  that  the  Min- 


THE   WAR   OF   1812  229 

istry  had  u  no  right  from  the  state  of  the  war  to 
demand  any  cession  of  territory  "  —  these  and  many 
lesser  considerations  disposed  the  Cabinet  to  ask  the 
American  envoys  to  prepare  a  draft  of  a  treaty. 

Strong  differences  of  opinion  developed  among 
the  Americans  when  they  set  to  work  upon  their 
preliminary  draft.  As  the  representative  of  Western 
interests,  Clay  set  himself  obstinately  against  any 
further  recognition  of  the  British  right  —  secured 
by  the  treaty  of  1783  — of  free  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi.  Adams  was  equally  determined  not  to 
sacrifice  the  correlative  right  to  the  Labrador  and 
Newfoundland  fisheries,  which  his  father  had  secured 
in  the  Treaty  of  Paris.  Gallatin,  the  peacemaker, 
was  in  favor  of  offering  to  renew  both  privileges ; 
and  he  finally  succeeded  in  winning  Clay's  reluctant 
assent  to  this  plan.  But  when  the  British  commis 
sioners  objected,  both  sides  agreed  to  omit  all  refer 
ence  to  these  vexing  questions. 

The  treaty  which  was  signed  on  December  24, 
1814,  is  remarkable  for  its  omissions.  The  reader 
will  scan  it  in  vain  for  any  allusion  to  impressments, 
blockades,  and  neutral  rights.  It  is  equally  silent  as 
to  the  control  of  the  Lakes,  Indian  territories,  the 
fisheries,  and  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  It 
was  "  simply  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  leaving  every 
claim  on  either  side  open  for  future  settlement." 
Clay  probably  reflected  the  disappointment  of  Re 
publicans  when  he  pronounced  it  "  a  damned  bad 
treaty."  Nevertheless,  it  brought  what  was  most 
desired  by  the  exhausted  Administration  —  peace. 
Moreover,  the  treaty  must  be  viewed  in  the  light  of 


230          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

events  in  Europe.  The  overthrow  of  the  Napoleonic 
Empire  and  the  exile  of  Bonaparte  gave  promise  of 
a  return  to  normal  conditions  so  far  as  maritime 
rights  were  concerned.  The  victories  of  American 
seamen  in  the  war  were  after  all  better  guaranties 
of  neutral  rights  than  any  declarations  on  parch 
ment. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

Besides  the  larger  histories,  which  contain  abundant  informa 
tion  about  the  war,  mention  should  be  made  of  B.  J.  Lossing's 
Pictorial  Field-Book  of  the  War  of  1812  (1868),  written  by  one 
who  visited  most  of  the  battlefields  of  the  war.  A  well-balanced 
account  of  the  military  operations  is  contained  in  K.  C.  Bab- 
cock's  The  Rise  of  American  Nationality  (in  The  American  Nation, 
vol.  xm,  1906).  Theodore  Roosevelt,  The  Naval  War  of  1812 
(various  editions);  E.  S.  Maclay,  History  of  the  United  States  Navy 
from  1775  to  1901  (3  vols.,  1901-02),  and  History  of  American 
Privateers  (1899);  J.  R.  Spears,  History  of  Our  Navy  (4  vols., 
1897);  and  C.  O.  Paullin,  Commodore  John  Rodger*  (1910),  give 
the  history  of  the  maritime  war.  The  most  comprehensive  study 
of  the  naval  operations  of  the  war  is  the  work  by  Admiral  Mahan 
already  cited.  The  part  of  Jackson  in  the  war  is  set  forth  in  many 
biographies.  The  most  picturesque  is  James  Parton,  Life  of 
Andrew  Jackson  (3  vols.,  1860);  the  most  recent  is  J.  S.  Bassett, 
Life  of  Andrew  Jackson  (2  vols.,  1911).  S.  E.  Morison,  Life  and 
Letters  of  Harrison  Gray  Otis  (2  vols.,  1913),  gives  a  fresh  account 
of  the  disaffection  in  New  England  and  of  the  Hartford  Conven 
tion.  The  peace  negotiations  at  Ghent  are  set  forth  circumstan 
tially  by  Henry  Adams  in  his  History  of  the  United  States  (9  vols., 
1889-91). 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE    RESULTS    OF    THE    WAR 

IN  a  message  to  Congress  transmitting  the  treaty 
of  peace,  President  Madison  congratulated  the  coun 
try  on  the  termination  of  a  war  "  waged  with  a 
success  which  is  the  natural  result  of  the  wisdom  of 
the  legislative  councils,  of  the  patriotism  of  the  peo 
ple,  of  the  public  spirit  of  the  militia,  and  of  the 
valor  of  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  the  coun 
try."  The  verdict  of  history  does  not  sustain  this 
paean  of  victory.  "  The  record,  upon  the  whole," 
declares  Admiral  Mahan,  "  is  one  of  gloom,  disas 
ter,  and  governmental  incompetence,  resulting  from 
lack  of  national  preparation,  due  to  the  obstinate 
and  blind  prepossessions  of  the  Government,  and,  in 
part,  of  the  people."  Public  opinion  indorsed  the 
President's  estimate  of  the  late  struggle. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  had  seen  little  of  the  disasters  and  ravages 
of  war.  All  the  important  battles  took  place  on  the 
borders.  The  great  mass  of  the  people  were  undis 
turbed  in  their  vocations.  There  was  hardly  a  day 
during  the  war  when  a  farmer  could  not  till  his 
acres  in  tranquillity.  Not  an  important  city  save 
Washington  was  taken  during  the  war.  Nor  was  the 
loss  of  life  large  in  proportion  to  population.  All 
told,  the  killed  and  wounded  did  not  exceed  five 
thousand  men.  Napoleon  lost  nearly  two  hundred 


UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

thousand  French  soldiers  in  his  disastrous  Russian 
campaign. 

American  character  appeared  at  its  best  and  at  its 
worst  in  these  three  years  of  war.  Even  the  British 
press  could  not  gainsay  the  resourcefulness  and  intel 
ligence  of  the  American  soldier  and  sailor,  though 
the  phrase  "  Yankee  smartness  "  conveyed  also  the 
unpleasant  imputation  of  trickiness  and  moral  laxity. 
Wherever  conditions  permitted  a  fair  test,  the  supe 
riority  of  the  American  gunner  was  incontestable. 
The  greater  losses  of  the  British  whenever  the 
armies  met  on  even  terms  proved  the  superior  marks 
manship  of  the  American  militiaman.  The  adapta 
tion  of  the  fast-sailing  schooner  to  privateering  was 
further  evidence  of  an  alert  intellect  which  was 
quick  to  adapt  means  to  ends.  This  quality,  to  be 
sure,  has  been  bred  in  every  frontier  folk  by  the 
very  necessities  of  existence,  but  it  appeared  in 
marked  strength  in  the  American  of  this  time. 
While  the  shipbuilders  of  New  England  were  lay 
ing  the  keels  of  these  privateers,  Robert  Fulton  was 
perfecting  his  steamboat  on  the  Delaware  and  Hud 
son  rivers.  In  the  year  before  the  war,  the  first 
steamboat  appeared  on  the  Ohio,  and  before  the  end 
of  the  war  fourteen  were  plying  on  Western  waters, 
and  opening  up  a  new  era  in  the  American  coloniza 
tion  of  the  continent. 

This  instinctive  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  was 
less  successful  in  the  realm  of  American  politics.  No 
celarity  could  compensate  for  want  of  prevision  on 
the  part  of  the  authorities  at  Washington.  The  les 
son  of  the  war  was  not  lost  upon  James  Madison,  at 


THE   RESULTS  OF  THE   WAR        233 

least.  "  Experience  has  taught  us,"  said  he  in  a  mes 
sage  to  Congress,  —  and  the  words  amounted  to  a 
confession  of  error,  —  "  that  neither  the  pacific  dis 
positions  of  the  American  people  nor  the  pacific  char 
acter  of  their  political  institutions,  can  altogether 
exempt  them  from  that  strife  which  appears,  beyond 
the  ordinary  lot  of  nations,  to  be  incident  to  the  ac 
tual  period  of  the  world  ;  and  the  same  faithful  moni 
tor  demonstrates  that  a  certain  degree  of  preparation 
for  war  is  not  only  indispensable  to  avert  disaster  in 
the  onset,  but  affords  also  the  best  security  for  the 
continuance  of  peace." 

The  indirect  effects  of  war  were  more  widely  felt. 
The  blockade  affected  adversely  all  the  extractive 
industries  upon  which  the  vast  majority  of  the  peo 
ple  in  all  the  States  depended.  Only  New  England 
escaped  unscathed  —  and  the  circumstance  was  not 
creditable  to  the  section.  In  the  latter  months  of 
1814  ruin  stared  the  Southern  planter  in  the  face. 
The  lifting  of  the  blockade  wrought  a  transforma 
tion.  Planters  in  the  Old  Dominion,  who  could  find 
no  market  for  their  tobacco  and  wheat  on  February 
13,  sold  their  produce  on  February  14  at  prices 
which  made  them  rich  again.  Flour  which  had  found 
almost  no  purchasers  at  seven  and  a  half  dollars  a 
barrel  sold  readily  at  ten.  Imported  commodities  fell 
in  price  correspondingly.  Ships  put  to  sea  at  once 
laden  with  the  accumulated  produce  of  two  long 
years.  The  export  trade,  which  had  fallen  to  less 
than  $7,000,000,  leaped  to  146,000,000  between 
March  and  October.  Fully  two  thirds  of  this  wealth 
accrued  to  the  Southern  planters  who  raised  the  three 


234          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

great  staples,  tobacco,  cotton,  and  rice.  The  people 
of  the  Middle  States  shared  only  moderately  in  this 
prosperity.  The  value  of  the  wheat  and  corn  which 
the  farmers  of  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  New 
Jersey  raised  for  export  did  not  much  exceed  that 
of  tobacco  alone. 

The  return  of  peace  brought  relief  also  to  the  ship 
ping  industry  of  New  England.  Vessels  which  the  em 
bargo  and  the  restrictive  policy  and  the  hazards  of 
war  had  kept  in  port  now  put  to  sea  again.  But  the 
European  conditions  which  had  created  such  im 
mense  profits  for  the  Yankee  skipper  in  1805, 1806, 
and  1807  had  passed  away.  Foreign  ships  now  bid 
for  the  carrying  trade  of  the  Atlantic,  and  their 
competition  cut  down  freight  rates  to  a  point  which 
caused  melancholy  forebodings  in  the  homes  of  Bos 
ton  and  Salem  shipowners. 

The  long  period  of  commercial  restriction  followed 
by  three  years  of  war  caused  a  dislocation  of  indus 
try  in  New  England.  Capital  which  had  been  in 
vested  in  shipping  now  sought  larger  returns  in  the 
manufacture  of  those  commodities  hitherto  supplied 
by  British  factories.  When  the  embargo  was  laid, 
only  fifteen  cotton  mills  were  in  operation,  repre 
senting  a  capital  of  about  $500,000.  Two  years  later, 
capital  to  the  amount  of  $4,000,000  had  been  in 
vested  in  factories  which  employed  nearly  4000 
hands.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  $40,000,000  were 
invested  in  cotton  mills  which  consumed  27,000,000 
pounds  of  raw  cotton  and  gave  employment  to  100,- 
000  men  and  women.  Hitherto  much  of  the  weaving 
had  been  done  on  hand  looms  in  the  farmhouses  of 


THE   RESULTS  OF  THE  WAR        235 

New  England:  only  the  spinning  had  been  done  by 
machinery.  In  1814,  Francis  Lowell  introduced  the 
power  loom  into  his  mill  at  Waltham,  Massachu 
setts,  and  brought  the  various  processes  of  cotton 
manufacturing  under  one  roof.  The  foundation  of 
the  New  England  factory  system  was  thus  laid  be 
fore  the  end  of  the  war.  In  the  following  decade  the 
famous  factory  towns  on  the  Merrimac  came  into  ex 
istence.  The  metamorphosis  of  the  section  had  begun. 

The  woolen  industry  received  a  great  impetus  in 
this  same  period  of  artificial  stimulation,  but  it 
failed  to  expand  with  the  same  rapidity,  owing  to 
the  scarcity  and  cost  of  the  finer  grades  of  wool. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  year  1816,  about  112,000,000 
were  invested  in  the  manufacture  of  woolen  fabrics. 
Like  the  cotton  industry,  this  owed  its  development 
to  the  policy  of  Presidents  from  Virginia.  It  is  one 
of  the  ironies  of  history  that  Jefferson  and  Madison 
should  have  unwittingly  sacrificed  Southern  planters 
to  build  up  industries  in  the  North,  and  that  New 
Englanders  should  have  excoriated  those  worthies 
for  policies  which  became  the  source  of  New  England 
prosperity. 

To  these  new  industries  peace  spelled  disaster. 
English  manufacturers  seized  the  opportunity  to  un 
load  the  goods  which  they  had  been  piling  up  in 
their  warehouses  for  years.  Importations  which  had 
amounted  to  $13,000,000  in  1813  rose  to  the  stag 
gering  sum  of  $147,000,000  in  1816.  Not  even  im 
port  duties  stemmed  the  tide,  for  as  Lord  Brougham 
stated  in  Parliament,  "  It  was  well  worth  while  to 
incur  a  loss  upon  the  first  exportation,  in  order,  by 


236          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

a  glut,  to  stifle  in  the  cradle  those  rising  manufac 
tures  in  the  United  States  which  the  war  had  forced 
into  existence,  contrary  to  the  natural  course  of 
things." 

In  October,  1815,  the  cotton  manufacturers  of 
Rhode  Island  sent  a  memorial  to  Congress,  stating 
that  their  one  hundred  and  forty  factories  were 
threatened  with  destruction  by  this  cut-throat  com 
petition.  Such  complaints  seemed  unduly  apprehen 
sive  ;  yet  before  the  year  closed,  most  of  the  textile 
mills  had  shut  down.  The  distress  of  New  England 
was  no  longer  feigned.  Caught  in  a  process  of  tran 
sition  from  shipping  to  manufacturing,  capital  could 
neither  advance  nor  retreat.  It  was  a  legitimate  case 
for  governmental  aid.  Even  Jefferson  laid  aside  his 
early  prepossessions  in  favor  of  a  simple  bucolic  life 
for  the  American  citizen,  and  admitted  that  "  to  be 
independent  for  the  comforts  of  life,  we  must  fabri 
cate  them  for  ourselves.  We  must  now  place  the 
manufacturer  by  the  side  of  the  agriculturist."  Mad 
ison,  too,  departed  from  the  Virginia  faith  so  far  as 
to  recommend  sufficient  protection  of  "  the  enter 
prising  citizens  whose  interests  are  now  at  stake  " 
to  guard  them  "  against  occasional  competition  from 
abroad." 

Within  sight  of  the  blackened  walls  of  the  Capitol, 
in  temporary  quarters  which  it  had  rented,  Congress 
set  its  hand  to  the  work  of  national  reconstruction. 
Before  many  months  had  passed,  the  new  Capitol, 
under  the  supervision  of  Latrobe,  began  to  rise  from 
the  ruins  of  the  old,  a  symbol  of  a  new  era.  On  the 
walls  of  the  rotunda,  John  Trumbull  painted  scenes 


THE   RESULTS  OF  THE   WAR        237 

which  were  to  remind  coming  generations  of  the 
heroic  days  of  the  Revolution,  and  within  its  confines 
was  eventually  installed  what  was  left  of  the  library 
of  Congress,  with  the  gaps  supplied  in  part  by  Jef 
ferson's  private  collection,  which  Congress  purchased. 
The  new  nation  was  not  to  disdain  wholly  the  finer 
aspects  of  life  nor  to  despise  the  garnered  wisdom  of 
the  ages. 

In  March,  1816,  Congress  took  under  considera 
tion  a  tariff  bill  which  had  been  drafted  on  lines 
marked  out  by  the  new  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
A.  J.  Dallas,  of  Pennsylvania.  The  debates  brought 
out  a  wide  diversity  of  interests.  Daniel  Webster 
represented  admirably  the  mingled  feelings  of  his 
New  England  constituents  when  he  professed  to 
favor  existing  manufactures,  but  deprecated  any  ac 
tion  calculated  to  produce  new  industries.  He  never 
wished  to  see  the  time  when  the  young  men  of  the 
country  would  be  forced  to  close  their  eyes  to  heaven 
and  earth,  and  open  them  in  the  dust  and  smoke  of 
unwholesome  factories.  On  the  other  hand,  Calhoun, 
eschewing  a  narrow  sectionalism,  declared  that  manu 
facturing  must  be  encouraged  as  a  wise  national 
policy.  "  Neither  agriculture,  manufactures,  nor  com 
merce,  taken  separately,  is  the  cause  of  wealth," 
said  he.  "  It  flows  from  the  three  combined  and  can 
not  exist  without  each."  The  South  showed  little  of 
the  apprehension  which  John  Randolph  expressed 
when  he  cried,  "Upon  whom  bears  the  duty  on 
coarse  woolens  and  linens  and  blankets,  upon  salt, 
and  all  the  necessaries  of  life?"  and  answered,  "On 
poor  men,  and  on  slaveholders." 


238          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

The  bill  which  Congress  eventually  passed  fixed 
somewhat  lower  duties  than  Dallas  had  advised.  A 
duty  of  twenty-five  per  cent  was  placed  on  cotton 
and  woolen  goods  until  June  30,  1819,  when  it  was 
to  be  reduced  to  twenty  per  cent.  By  what  was  known 
as  the  minimum  principle,  all  cotton  fabrics  costing 
less  than  twenty-five  cents  a  square  yard  were  held 
to  have  cost  that  amount  and  were  made  to  pay  cor 
responding  duties.  The  object  of  this  provision  was 
to  exclude  the  coarser  and  cheaper  cotton  textiles  of 
India  which  would  menace  the  products  of  New  Eng 
land  looms.  Other  important  articles  were  made  sub 
ject  to  higher  duties,  such  as  rolled  and  hammered 
iron,  leather  goods,  hats,  carriages,  and  writing-paper. 
A  comparison  of  these  duties  with  those  of  the  tariff 
of  1789  shows  a  marked  increase.  Where  the  aver 
age  duty  was  seven  and  one  half  per  cent  in  1789, 
it  was  thirty  per  cent  in  the  tariff  of  1816.  So  far 
as  the  intent  of  the  law  is  concerned,  this  tariff  act 
committed  the  country  to  a  fiscal  policy  in  which 
u  revenue  was  subordinated  to  industrial  needs." 

Although  the  largest  vote  against  the  tariff  bill 
came  from  the  South  and  Southwest,  twenty-three 
out  of  fifty-seven  Representatives  voted  for  the  bill. 
New  England  showed  a  prepondering  opinion  in  favor 
of  protection  :  only  ten  out  of  twenty-seven  Repre 
sentatives  opposed  the  bill.  The  Representatives  of 
the  Middle  States  ranged  themselves  emphatically 
on  the  side  of  protection ;  and  with  them  stood  the 
Congressmen  from  Ohio  and  Kentucky. 

The  close  of  the  war  found  the  country  with  a 
badly  disordered  currency  and  with  a  bankrupt  treas- 


THE   RESULTS  OF  THE   WAR        239 

ury.  Nowhere  were  the  remedial  efforts  of  Congress 
needed  more.  The  condition  of  the  currency  was  due, 
in  part  at  least,  to  the  failure  of  Congress  in  1811 
to  perceive  the  regulative  influence  of  a  national 
bank.  By  refusing  to  recharter  the  United  States 
Bank,  Congress  not  only  deprived  the  Treasury  of 
an  exceedingly  valuable  fiscal  agent  during  the  war, 
but  also  threw  the  door  wide  open  to  indiscriminate 
and  unregulated  state  banking.  Between  1811  and 
1816  the  number  of  these  state  institutions  increased 
from  eighty-eight  to  two  hundred  and  forty-six,  all 
of  which  exercised  the  right  of  issuing  notes  with 
little  or  no  restriction.  Inflation  followed  inevitably. 
During  the  blockade  the  banks  of  the  Middle  and 
Southern  States  suffered  great  distress  by  the  con 
stant  drain  of  specie  to  New  England  and  abroad. 
After  the  capture  of  Washington,  practically  all 
banks  outside  of  New  England  were  forced  to  sus 
pend  specie  payments.  The  country  experienced  once 
more  all  the  evils  of  a  depreciated  currency.  South 
ern  bank  notes  were  refused  for  deposit  in  Philadel 
phia  banks.  Notes  of  these  institutions  in  Philadelphia, 
in  turn,  were  subject  to  a  discount  of  twenty-four 
per  cent  in  Boston.  Uncertainty  and  distrust  de 
moralized  financial  operations  everywhere. 

Wiser  by  the  experience  of  five  years,  Congress 
was  now  disposed  to  establish  another  national  bank. 
A  first  bill,  however,  fell  short  of  the  President's 
desires  and  was  vetoed.  A  second  bill  became  law  on 
April  10,  1816.  The  provisions  of  this  Bank  of  the 
United  States  differed  in  several  particulars  from 
that  chartered  in  1790.  Its  capital  was  three  and  one 


240          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

half  times  as  large.  One  fifth  of  the  total  capital 
of  135,000,000  was  to  be  subscribed  by  the  Gov 
ernment,  and  the  remainder  by  individuals.  Five  of 
the  twenty-five  directors  were  to  be  appointed  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  The  funds  of  the 
Government  were  to  be  deposited  in  the  Bank  unless 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should  otherwise  direct, 
laying  his  reasons  for  any  such  change  before  Con 
gress.  In  return  for  the  privileges  granted  in  the 
charter,  the  Bank  was  required  to  transfer  the  govern 
ment  funds  from  place  to  place  without  charge,  and 
to  pay  11,500,000  to  the  Government.  On  its  side 
the  Government  agreed  not  to  charter  any  other  bank 
except  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  circulation 
of  the  Bank  was  limited  to  the  amount  of  its  capital. 
Its  notes  were  to  be  payable  on  demand  in  specie 
and  to  be  receivable  in  all  payments  to  the  Govern 
ment. 

Such  an  institution  gave  promise  of  serving  the 
Government  as  a  sound  fiscal  agent  and  of  assisting 
materially  in  the  restoration  of  the  currency  to  a  specie 
basis.  The  stock  was  subscribed  promptly  by  31,334 
individuals,  all  but  three  thousand  of  whom  resided 
in  the  Middle  States.  New  England  was  still  reluc 
tant  to  support  the  plans  of  Mr.  Madison  ;  the  South 
had  other  uses  for  its  capital.  To  facilitate  the  re 
sumption  of  specie  payments,  Congress  passed  a  joint 
resolution,  that  after  February  20  of  the  following 
year  (1817),  all  dues  to  the  Government  should  be 
paid  in  specie,  treasury  notes,  national  bank  notes,  or 
notes  of  banks  payable  in  the  "  said  currency  of  the 
United  States."  This  was  strong  medicine  for  the 


THE  RESULTS  OF  THE  WAR        241 

state  banks.  Unwilling  or  unable  to  contract  their 
circulation  and  to  call  in  their  loans,  the  banks  of 
the  Middle  States  asked  to  have  the  date  of  resump 
tion  deferred,  on  the  ostensible  ground  that  the  new 
bank  could  not  be  organized  in  time  to  assist  them. 
The  energetic  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  disposed  of 
this  plea  by  putting  the  Bank  in  operation  in  January, 
1817.  On  the  date  set  by  Congress  the  banks  very 
generally  resumed  specie  payments. 

The  propulsive  force  given  to  the  Government  by 
the  war  seemed  likely  to  continue.  The  task  of  the  Na 
tional  Government  no  longer  seemed  merely  negative, 
— to  "restrain  men  from  injuring  one  another,"  in  the 
Jeffersonian  phrase,  —  but  positive  and  constructive. 
Even  Madison,  in  his  annual  message  of  1815,  rec 
ommended  liberal  provision  for  defense,  more  mili 
tary  academies,  an  improved  and  enlarged  navy, 
protection  to  manufactures,  new  national  roads  and 
canals,  and  a  national  university.  He  gave  his  support 
to  Monroe's  proposal  to  fix  the  peace  establishment 
at  twenty  thousand  men ;  and  he  experienced  the 
unique  sensation  of  finding  himself  in  advance  of  his 
party,  which  finally  agreed  upon  an  army  of  ten  thou 
sand  men.  Still  more  striking  evidence  of  the  change 
which  had  passed  over  the  party  of  Jefferson  was  its 
willingness  to  retain  the  entire  naval  establishment 
and  to  appropriate  $4,000,000  for  frigates  and  ships- 
of-the-line.  Clay  and  Calhoun,  speaking  for  the  younger 
Republicans,  agreed  that  the  greatest  danger  of  the 
future  lay  in  weak  government.  They  were  not  in 
the  least  intimidated  by  the  addition  of  180,000,000 
to  the  national  debt  as  the  result  of  war.  That  sum. 


242          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

represented  to  their  minds  simply  the  price,  none 
too  large,  of  commercial  and  industrial  independ 
ence. 

These  young  aggressive  spirits  seemed  at  times 
quite  indifferent  to  nice  questions  of  constitutional 
law.  Calhoun  dismissed  constitutional  objections  to 
a  national  bank  with  a  wave  of  the  hand  :  he  thought 
discussion  of  such  abstract  themes  ua  useless  con 
sumption  of  time."  On  introducing  his  bill  for  inter 
nal  improvements,  in  December,  1816,  he  intimated 
that  he  did  not  propose  to  indulge  in  metaphysical 
subtleties  respecting  the  Constitution.  "  The  instru 
ment  was  not  intended  as  a  thesis  for  the  logician  to 
exercise  his  ingenuity  on ;  ...  it  ought  to  be  con 
strued  with  plain  good  sense."  If  Clay  exhibited  more 
sensitiveness  to  constitutional  limitations,  it  was 
because  he  had  to  clear  himself  from  the  charge  of 
inconsistency^  In  supporting  the  Bank  Bill  in  1816 
he  frankly  confessed  that  he  had  changed  his  mind 
on  the  point  of  constitutionality.  He  had  believed 
the  incorporation  of  a  bank  in  1811  unwarranted  by 
the  Constitution  ;  but  conditions  had  changed.  What 
was  then  neither  necessary  nor  proper  was  now  both 
necessary  and  proper.  The  interpretation  of  the  Con 
stitution  must  always  take  existing  circumstances 
into  account.  If  Clay  did  not  add  to  his  reputation 
as  an  expounder  of  the  Constitution  by  this  speech, 
he  represented  admirably,  nevertheless,  the  changes 
which  circumstances  had  wrought  in  the  convictions 
of  his  associates. 

Against  these  new  tendencies  John  Randolph  set 
himself  stark  and  griin.  "  The  question  is,"  said  he, 


THE   RESULTS  OF  THE   WAR        243 

replying  to  Calhoun's  new  nationalism,  "  whether  or 
not  we  are  willing  to  become  one  great  consolidated 
nation,  or  whether  we  have  still  respect  enough  for 
those  old,  respectable  institutions  [the  States]  to  re 
gard  their  integrity  and  preservation  as  a  part  of 
our  policy."  Randolph  spoke  for  a  generation  which 
was  passing  away;  but  his  words  touched  a  respon 
sive  chord  in  the  breast  of  President  Madison.  On 
March  3,  1817,  as  he  was  about  to  leave  office,  he 
sent  to  Congress  a  message  vetoing  the  Internal  Im 
provements  Bill  and  warning  his  party  associates  of 
the  danger  of  latitudinarian  views  of  the  Constitu 
tion.  This  message  was  Madison's  farewell  address. 
It  was  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  man  and  the 
statesman. 

The  relaxing  of  Republican  doctrines,  and  of  party 
ties  generally,  divested  the  presidential  election  of  any 
real  political  significance.  The  Federalists  were  thor 
oughly  discredited.  As  a  party  they  made  no  concerted 
effort  to  nominate  candidates.  Virtually,  therefore,  the 
selection  of  a  President  rested  with  the  congressional 
caucus  of  the  Republican  party.  The  choice  lay  be 
tween  two  members  of  the  President's  Cabinet : 
James  Monroe,  Secretary  of  State,  and  William  H. 
Crawford,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Governor 
Tompkins,  of  New  York,  was  put  forward  by  en 
thusiastic  partisans  from  that  State,  but  he  was  not 
a  national  figure  in  any  sense  and  commanded  no 
support  outside  of  his  State.  Intrigue  played  a  part 
in  this  caucus,  if  contemporary  testimony  may  be  be 
lieved.  Tradition  has  it  that  Martin  Van  Buren  and 
Peter  B.  Porter  prevented  their  New  York  delega- 


244          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

tion  from  voting  for  Crawford  and  thus  threw  the 
nomination  to  Monroe.  Governor  Tompkins  was  the 
choice  of  the  caucus  for  Yice-President.  No  one  could 
safely  affirm  that  these  nominees  were  the  choice  of 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  party.  Here  and  there  public 
meetings  were  held  to  protest  against  the  dictation 
of  the  congressional  caucus ;  but  no  organized  oppo 
sition  developed.  The  campaign  proved  to  be  a  tame 
affair.  Nowhere  was  there  a  real  contest.  Only  three 
States,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Delaware, 
chose  Federalist  electors.  Not  a  ripple  of  excitement 
stirred  the  public  when  announcement  was  finally 
made  that  Monroe  had  received  183  electoral  votes 
and  Rufus  King,  34.  For  the  fourth  time  a  Virginian 
had  been  raised  to  the  Presidency. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

Of  the  general  histories,  only  that  by  McMaster  contains  any 
great  amount  of  information  bearing  on  the  economic  changes 
wrought  by  war  and  the  preceding  period  of  commercial  restric 
tion.  Adams  summarizes  the  economic  results  of  war  in  a  single 
chapter  in  the  last  volume  of  his  work.  K.  C.  Babcock,  The  Rise 
of  American  Nationality  (in  The  American  Nation,  vol.  13,  1906), 
attempts  the  same  task.  Besides  the  manuals  on  economic  his 
tory  which  have  already  been  mentioned,  there  are  several  excel 
lent  volumes  dealing  with  various  phases  of  national  life:  such  as, 
D.  R.  Dewey,  Financial  History  of  the  United  States  (1903);  F.  W. 
Taussig,  Tariff  History  of  the  United  States  (rev.  ed.,  1913);  R.  C. 
H.  Catterall,  The  Second  Bank  of  the  United  States  (1903);  J.  L. 
Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures  from  1608-1860  (2  vols., 
1861-64);  C.  W.  Wright,  Wool-Growing  and  the  Tariff  (1910). 
Among  the  biographies  of  statesmen  of  the  new  generation,  the 
best  are:  G.  T.  Curtis,  Life  of  Daniel  Webster  (2  vols.,  1869); 
W.  W.  Story,  Life  and  Letters  of  Joseph  Story  (2  vols.,  1851); 
G.  Hunt,  John  C.  Calhoun  (1908). 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE    WESTWARD    MOVEMENT 

AT  the  end  of  the  second  decade  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  people  of  the  United  States  were  still  in  the 
main  a  homogeneous  folk,  native-born  descendants  of 
native-born  ancestors.  The  tide  of  immigration  which 
was  by  the  end  of  the  century  to  inundate  the  nation 
and  transform  its  character  was  just  beginning  to  flow. 
Its  volume  between  the  close  of  the  Revolution  and  the 
year  1820,  when  the  first  official  statistics  were  col 
lected,  must  remain  a  matter  of  conjecture.  In  1817, 
the  painstaking  Niles,  in  his  Register,  estimated  that 
about  twenty- two  thousand  immigrants  had  arrived 
in  that  year  in  the  ports  of  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
and  Boston,  of  whom  four  thousand  were  Germans 
and  the  rest  inhabitants  of  the  British  Isles.  Fully 
one  half  of  these  British  subjects  were  brawny 
Irishmen,  often  a  turbulent  lot,  but  always  in  demand 
for  hard  labor  on  the  roads  and  canals  which  were 
projected  in  every  part  of  the  Union.  Among  these 
newcomers,  however,  were  many  undesirables.  Not 
a  few  English  parishes  emptied  their  poorhouses  by 
sending  the  helpless  inmates  to  the  New  World. 
Some  of  these  deported  paupers,  no  doubt,  found  a 
a  livelihood  and  became  respectable  citizens  ;  but  the 
records  of  almshouses  in  the  Eastern  States  indicate 
that  many  of  these  unfortunates  had  only  exchanged 
one  asylum  for  another.  In  the  Philadelphia  poor- 


246          UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

houses  in  the  early  thirties,  from  one  third  to  one 
half  of  the  inmates  were  foreign-born.  Cargoes  of  re- 
demptioners  came  into  American  ports  as  late  as  the 
year  1818.  Of  that  traffic  which  was  bringing  help 
less  Africans  into  bondage  in  the  Southern  States, 
more  will  be  said  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

Among  the  new  arrivals,  it  goes  without  saying, 
were  men  and  women,  who,  and  whose  descendants, 
contributed  mightily  to  the  building  up  of  American 
Commonwealths.  Entire  communities  seeking  an 
asylum  in  the  New  World  continued  to  arrive  as  in 
die  early  years  of  the  seventeenth  century.  In  1817, 
a  body  of  German  separatists  from  Wiirttemberg, 
under  the  leadership  of  Joseph  Baumeler,  landed  at 
Philadelphia.  Like  the  English  Pilgrims  they  sought 
freedom  from  religious  persecution,  but  the  Plymouth 
which  they  founded  was  on  a  new  frontier  —  at  Zoar 
in  the  wilderness  of  Ohio. 

What  particularly  impressed  every  foreign  traveler 
in  America  during  these  years  of  transition  and  ex 
pansion  was  the  incessant  movement  of  society.  The 
earlier  westward  movement  of  population  had  never 
wholly  ceased,  but  it  had  been  retarded  by  the  war. 
The  return  of  peace  was  like  the  first  warm  days  of 
spring.  The  roads  leading  West  were  fairly  inun 
dated  by  a  swelling  stream  of  emigrants.  An  ob 
server  at  the  Genesee  turnpike  noted  a  train  of  some 
twenty  wagons  and  one  hundred  and  sixteen  persons 
on  their  way  to  Indiana  from  a  single  town  in  Maine. 
A  traveler  on  his  way  from  Nashville  to  Georgia,  in 
January,  1817,  met  an  astonishing  number  of  people 
from  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  who  were  bound  for 


THE  WESTWARD   MOVEMENT       247 

the  cotton  lands  of  Alabama.  He  counted  over  two 
hundred  conveyances  and  three  thousand  people, 
driving  herds  of  cattle  and  droves  of  hogs  before 
them.  But  the  great  highway  to  the  West  lay 
through  Pennsylvania.  On  the  road  from  Chambers- 
burg  to  Pittsburg,  Fearon,  an  intelligent  and  in  such 
particulars  a  trustworthy  English  traveler,  counted 
one  hundred  and  three  stage-wagons,  drawn  by  four 
and  six  horses,  proceeding  from  Philadelphia  and 
Baltimore  to  Pittsburg,  and  seventy-nine  wagons 
bound  in  the  opposite  direction.  "  On  the  road," 
comments  Fearon,  "  every  emigrant  tells  you  he  is 
going  to  Ohio  ;  when  you  arrive  in  Ohio,  its  inhabi 
tants  are  'moving'  to  Missouri  and  Alabama;  thus 
it  is  that  the  point  for  final  settlement  is  forever  re 
ceding  as  you  advance,  and  thus  it  will  hereafter  pro 
ceed,  and  only  be  terminated  by  that  effectual  barrier 
—  the  Pacific  Ocean." 

To  this  emigration  all  sections  of  the  Union  con 
tributed.  In  the  back-country  of  New  England  —  in 
Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  western  Mas 
sachusetts  —  was  a  restive  population  little  loved  by 
the  governing  class.  President  Timothy  Dwight,  of 
Yale  College,  described  these  people  as  "  impatient 
of  the  restraints  of  law,  religion,  and  morality,"  con 
tentious,  always  complaining,  and  always  indebted. 
They  were  likely  to  be  Baptists  or  Methodists,  by 
persuasion,  and  Democrats  in  politics.  As  small  farm 
ers  their  lot  was  a  hard  one.  They  needed  only  the 
incentive  of  cheap  lands  in  the  Wrest  to  sever  the 
slender  ties  which  bound  them  to  the  stony  hillsides 
of  New  England.  Yet  the  older  towns  of  New  Eng- 


248 


UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 


Land  Sales  and  Land  Offices  to  182], 

SCALE  OF  MILES 

0  100         200          300         400 

Shaded  septnents  indicate  proportion  of  lands  sold. 
Figures  indicate  millions  of  acres  unsold,  eiclueiv 


land  also  complained  of  the  Western  fever  which  was 
carrying  off  the  available  labor  supply.  Fearon  found 
"  the  small  and  middling  tradesmen  "  always  ready 
to  sell  out  when  business  got  bad  and  "  pack 

up  for  the  back- 
country."  The 
immediate  desti 
nation  of  these 
New  Englanders 
was  western  New 
York.  Within  a 
decade  what  had 
been  a  frontier 
area  was  filled 
with  an  indus 
trious  population 
eager  to  secure 
markets  for  the 
surplus  products 
of  their  farms. 

Before  a  very 
large  number  of 
New  Englanders 
passed  beyond 
western  New 
York,  emigrants 
from  the  Middle 
States  were  pushing  into  the  Ohio  country,  where 
Harrison's  victories  had  opened  vast  tracts  to  the 
white  settlers.  The  earliest  settlers  in  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  however,  were  of  Southern  extraction.  Ten 
nessee  and  Kentucky,  having  no  longer  a  supply 


THE   WESTWARD   MOVEMENT       249 

of  good  land  at  low  prices,  sent  the  younger  genera 
tion  on  to  a  new  frontier.  In  the  year  1816  the 
father  of  Abraham  Lincoln  took  his  family  across  the 
Ohio  on  a  raft  and  hewed  his  way  into  the  timber 
lands  along  the  river  bottoms  of  Indiana.  With  these 
migratory  Kentuckians  went  also  descendants  of  the 
Germans  and  the  Scotch-Irish  who  had  peopled  the 
Great  Valley  in  the  previous  century.  Even  from 
the  Carolinas  came  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men, 
-  poor  whites,  Quakers,  Baptists,  —  small  farmers 
whom  the  advancing  plantation  system  was  driving 
from  the  uplands. 

Even  more  significant  than  this  advance  of  popu 
lation  into  the  region  north  of  the  Ohio  was  the 
contemporaneous  movement  from  the  Southern  Sea 
board  States  into  the  cotton  lands  of  the  Gulf  plains. 
The  way  had  been  prepared  by  Andrew  Jackson's 
conquest  of  the  Creeks.  Alabama  was  the  immediate 
goal  of  the  migrating  Southerner.  From  Kentucky, 
also,  but  more  particularly  from  Tennessee,  stalwart 
pioneers  entered  this  new  El  Dorado.  The  father  of 
Jefferson  Davis  was  one  of  those  who  tried  their  luck 
in  the  alluvial  plains  of  the  lower  Mississippi.  By  the 
year  1820,  the  area  of  settlement  had  extended  from 
southern  Tennessee  to  Mobile,  and  from  Mobile  to 
the  Mississippi  along  the  Gulf. 

The  causes  and  consequences  of  this  colonization 
of  the  Southwest  form  a  vital  chapter  in  the  econo 
mic  history  of  the  country.  In  the  year  before  the 
war,  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia  produced 
75,000,000  pounds  of  cotton ;  the  only  other  cot 
ton-raising  States,  Tennessee  and  Louisiana,  pro- 


250 


UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 


dticed  5,000,000  pounds.  Ten  years  later,  the  Sea 
board  States  raised  117,000,000  pounds  ;  the  South 
west,  60,000,000.  In  another  decade  the  States  of 
the  Southwest  had  outstripped  the  Old  South.  This 
comparison  throws  a  flood  of  light  upon  Southern 
history.  The  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  had  made 


1801 


1811 


1821 


1826 


1834 


The  Cotton  Crop  in  the  United  States  1801-1834 

Based  on  Estimates  furnished  to  Congress  by  the  Secretary  of  Treasury 

Figures  indicate  the  crop  in  million  pounds 

Shaded  segments  indicate  the  Gulf  States 


possible  the  cultivation  of  the  short-staple  cotton 
plant,  which  was  the  only  variety  that  could  be  raised 
profitably  in  the  uplands.  Occurring  just  at  the  mo 
ment  when  the  use  of  the  power  loom  in  factories 
was  giving  an  unprecedented  stimulus  to  the  manu 
facture  of  cotton,  the  cotton  gin  worked  a  revolution 
in  Southern  life  and  industry.  From  the  tidewater, 


THE   WESTWARD   MOVEMENT       251 

with  its  large  plantations  worked  by  African  slaves, 
the  cultivation  of  cotton  passed  into  the  region  above 
the  fall-line  of  the  rivers,  where  the  small  farmer 
practiced  a  diversified  agriculture.  Socially  and  po 
litically  the  two  regions  had  always  been  distinct. 
The  gentlemen  planters  of  the  tidewater,  with  much 
the  same  outlook  as  the  English  gentry  of  the  same 
period,  regarded  the  democratic  yeomen  of  the  Pied 
mont  with  distrust  not  unmixed  with  contempt.  By 
excluding  them  from  their  proportionate  representa 
tion  in  the  state  legislatures,  the  aristocratic  planters 
maintained  an  ascendency  which  was  at  once  political 
and  social.  But  as  cotton-growing  became  more  profit 
able  and  advanced  into  the  interior,  the  farmer  of  the 
uplands  found  himself  pushed  to  the  wall.  Either 
he  must  adopt  the  plantation  system  and  purchase 
slaves,  or  sell  his  land  and  move  on.  For  want  of 
capital  large  numbers  chose  the  latter  alternative  and 
swelled  the  numbers  of  those  who  had  already  set 
their  faces  westward. 

The  communities  which  within  six  years  after  the 
Treaty  of  Ghent  were  admitted  into  the  Union  as 
the  States  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  did  not  at 
first  differ  materially  from  Indiana  and  Illinois, 
which  became  Commonwealths  at  the  same  time. 
Much  the  same  obstacles  confronted  the  pioneer  in 
the  pine  forests  of  Mississippi  as  in  the  hard  woods 
of  the  Northwest.  Either  as  squatter  or  bona  fide 
purchaser  he  had  with  the  aid  of  his  neighbors  hewed 
out  a  clearing,  or  single-handed  girdled  the  trees,  and 
laid  the  sills  of  his  log  cabin.  A  "  raising "  or  "  frolic  " 
was  one  of  the  few  opportunities  for  social  intercourse 


252          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

in  the  hard  life  of  the  frontiersman.  Between  the 
stumps  of  his  clearing  he  planted  his  first  crop  of 
Indian  corn  ;  and  what  the  soil  did  not  yield  for  his 
sustenance,  he  supplied  with  his  trusty  rifle.  Time 
wrought  vast  transformations  in  these  new  communi 
ties.  The  thriftless,  who  scratched  the  surface  of  the 
ground  and  then  sold  out  to  a  newcomer  of  sterner 
fiber,  passed  on  to  a  new  frontier.  Log  cabins  gave 
way  to  frame  houses.  Clearings  became  well-tilled 
farms.  Better  methods  of  cultivation  extracted  a  sur 
plus  of  produce  which  could  be  sent  to  market.  Along 
the  rivers  of  the  Northwest,  cities  sprang  up  like 
mushrooms. 

From  this  point  the  history  of  the  Southwest  di 
verged  from  that  of  the  Northwest.  The  virgin  lands 
of  the  Gulf  attracted  also  the  planter  with  his  capi 
tal  invested  in  African  slaves.  Once  again  the  small 
farmer  felt  the  combined  pressure  of  social  and  eco 
nomic  forces.  He  saw  his  wealthier  neighbor  acquire 
the  more  fertile  lands ;  he  found  himself  thrust  into 
a  socially  inferior  class  ;  and  again  he  yielded  to  fate. 
While  a  democratic  society  of  self-reliant  yeomen  was 
developing  in  the  northern  half  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  a  society  based  upon  a  plantation  economy 
and  aristocratic  in  its  outward  characteristics  was 
forming  in  the  Gulf  States.  Yet  in  its  aggressive 
ness  and  commercial  enterprise,  the  new  South  re 
sembled  the  Northwest  rather  than  the  old  South. 

While  the  South  was  producing  staples  for  an 
ever-growing  market,  it  became  itself  the  market  for 
the  surplus  products  of  the  Northwest.  An  active  in 
ternal  trade  sprang  up  between  the  sections  in  spite 


THE   WESTWARD   MOVEMENT       253 


of  the  natural  barriers  to  commercial  intercourse. 
Live  stock  could  be  driven  to  market.  It  was  a  com 
mon  occurrence  to  see  droves  of  thousands  of  "  razor- 
back  "  hogs  on  their  way  from  Kentucky  to  the  Sea 
board  States,  feeding  on  nuts  and  roots  by  the  way. 
Rivers  were  the 
chief  highways 
for  such  prod 
uce  as  could 
not  provide  for 
its  own  locomo 
tion.  The  West 
ern  waters  float 
ed  all  sorts  of 
craft,  from  the 
lumber  raft  to 
the  flatboat,  la 
den  with  pork, 
cheese,  butter, 
flour,  corn,  and 
whiskey.  The 
greater  part  of 
these  boats  were 
makeshifts,  and 
made  no  return 
voyage.  It  was  not  until  1809  that  a  barge  was 
warped  upstream  from  New  Orleans  to  Nashville. 
The  entire  traffic  on  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio 
was  carried  on  until  1817  in  less  than  a  score  of 
keel  boats,  which  made  the  voyage  downstream  from 
Louisville  to  New  Orleans  in  about  forty  days,  and 
upstream  in  ninety.  Wrhen,  then,  a  steamboat  sue- 


254          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

ceeded  in  making  a  return  voyage  in  twenty-five 
days,  it  was  hailed  as  an  epoch-making  performance. 
In  the  next  year  twenty  steamboats  were  competing 
for  the  river  traffic ;  and  three  years  later  (1820) 
seventy-two  were  in  actual  service.  Yet  the  steam 
boat  did  not  drive  the  flatboat  from  the  Western 
rivers.  So  late  as  1840  one  fifth  of  the  freight  han 
dled  on  the  lower  Mississippi  was  carried  in  flatboats 
or  barges. 

The  rapid  rise  of  this  internal  commerce  between 
the  farmer  of  the  Northwest  and  the  cotton  planter 
of  the  South  increased  the  ability  of  both  to  pur 
chase  manufactures  in  the  Eastern  markets.  Both 
sections  had  wants  which  they  could  not  supply  by 
their  simple  household  industries.  They  had  to  im 
port  not  only  their  farming  implements,  but  most 
of  those  articles,  useful  or  ornamental,  which  were 
thought  indispensable  to  a  higher  civilization.  "  Spots 
in  Tennessee,  in  Ohio,  and  Kentucky,"  comments  an 
English  traveler,  "  that  within  the  lifetime  of  even 
young  men,  witnessed  only  the  arrow  and  the  scalp 
ing  knife,  now  present  the  traveler  with  articles  of 
elegance  and  modes  of  luxury  which  might  rival  the 
displays  of  London  and  Paris."  Most  of  this  stock 
was  transported  over  the  mountains  from  Philadel 
phia  or  Baltimore.  In  1820,  three  thousand  wagons 
carried  to  Pittsburg,  the  distributing  center  of  the 
West,  nearly  eighteen  million  dollars'  worth  of  mer 
chandise. 

The  commercial  interests  of  the  East  were  quick 
to  see  the  possibilities  of  this  new  market.  An  eager 
rivalry  sprang  up  between  the  merchants  of  New 


THE   WESTWARD   MOVEMENT       255 

York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore.  Everywhere  ways 
and  means  of  cheaper  transportation  were  discussed. 
In  this  subject  the  Western  farmer  was  vitally  inter 
ested,  for  freight  charges  added  nearly  one  third  to 
the  cost  of  merchandise  transported  over  the  moun 
tains.  The  cotton  planter  of  the  Seaboard  States, 
also,  feeling  the  competition  of  the  Southwest,  where 
riverways  were  abundant  and  easily  navigable,  saw 
the  need  of  better  roads  to  tidewater,  in  order  to  les 
sen  the  cost  of  marketing  his  produce. 

The  popular  demand  for  better  roads  was  not  re 
cent.  All  the  States  had  encouraged,  directly  or 
indirectly,  the  building  of  turnpikes  and  bridges. 
Between  1793  and  1812,  Pennsylvania  had  char 
tered  fifty-five  turnpike  companies,  and  other  States 
had  been  scarcely  less  ready  to  grant  articles  of  in 
corporation  to  stock  companies.  Private  enterprise 
had,  indeed,  done  much  to  improve  communication 
along  the  seaboard.  Turnpikes  and  bridges  had 
shortened  the  journey  by  stage  from  Boston  to  Wrash- 
ington  to  four  and  a  quarter  days  by  the  year  1815. 
The  city  of  New  York  was  in  1816  within  twenty-four 
hours  of  Albany  by  the  Hudson  River  steamboats. 

Numerous  canal  companies  had  also  been  char 
tered  ;  but  of  all  the  canals  projected,  only  three  had 
been  completed  when  the  War  of  1812  began  :  the 
Dismal  Swamp  Canal  in  Virginia,  the  Santee  Canal 
in  South  Carolina,  and  the  Middlesex  Canal  in  Mas 
sachusetts.  It  remained  for  New  York  to  usher  in 
a  new  era  in  internal  communication  by  authorizing 
in  1817  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal.  In  the 
ardent  imagination  of  its  chief  promoter,  De  Witt 


256          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Clinton,  this  canal  was  destined  to  be  "  a  bond  of 
union  between  the  Atlantic  and  Western  States"  and 
"  an  organ  of  communication  between  the  Hudson, 
the  Mississippi,  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Great  Lakes 
of  the  North  and  West,  and  their  tributary  rivers," 
creating  "  the  greatest  inland  trade  ever  witnessed  " 
and  transforming  New  York  into  a  vast  emporium 
of  commerce  and  "  the  granary  of  the  world." 

This  bold  bid  for  Western  trade  alarmed  the  mer 
chants  of  Philadelphia,  particularly  as  the  completion 
of  the  national  road  threatened  to  divert  much  of 
their  traffic  to  Baltimore.  In  1825,  the  legislature 
of  Pennsylvania  grappled  with  the  problem  by  pro 
jecting  a  series  of  canals  which  were  to  connect  its 
great  seaport  with  Pittsburg  on  the  west  and  with 
Lake  Erie  and  the  upper  Susquehanna  on  the  north. 

The  magnitude  of  the  transportation  problem  was 
such,  however,  that  neither  individual  States  nor 
private  corporations  seemed  able  to  meet  the  de 
mands  of  an  expanding  internal  trade.  As  early  as 
1807,  Albert  Gallatin  had  advocated  the  construc 
tion  of  a  great  system  of  internal  waterways  to  con 
nect  East  and  West,  at  an  estimated  cost  of  $20,- 
000,000.  But  the  only  contribution  of  the  National 
Government  to  internal  improvements  during  the 
Jeffersonian  era  was  an  appropriation  in  1806  of 
two  per  cent  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  pub 
lic  lands  in  Ohio  for  the  construction  of  a  national 
road,  with  the  consent  of  the  States  through  which 
it  should  pass.  By  1818  the  road  was  open  to  traffic 
from  Cumberland,  Maryland,  to  Wheeling,  Virginia. 

In  1816,  with  the  experiences  of  the  war  before 


THE  WESTWARD   MOVEMENT       257 

him,  no  well-informed  statesman  could  shut  his  eyes 
to  the  national  aspects  of  the  problem.  Even  Presi 
dent  Madison  invited  the  attention  of  Congress  to 
the  need  of  establishing  "  a  comprehensive  system 
of  roads  and  canals."  Soon  after  Congress  met,  it  took 
under  consideration  a  bill  drafted  by  Calhoun  which 
proposed  an  appropriation  of  $1,500,000  for  inter 
nal  improvements.  Because  this  appropriation  was  to 
be  met  by  the  moneys  paid  by  the  National  Bank 
to  the  Government,  the  bill  was  commonly  referred 
to  as  the  "  Bonus  Bill."  "  Let  it  not  be  forgotten," 
said  Calhoun  in  advocacy  of  his  bill, "  that  it  [the 
size  of  the  Union]  exposes  us  to  the  greatest  of  all 
calamities,  —  next  to  the  loss  of  liberty,  —  and  even 
to  that  in  its  consequences  —  disunion.  We  are  great, 
and  rapidly  —  I  was  about  to  say  fearfully — growing. 
This  is  our  pride  and  our  danger  ;  our  weakness  and 
our  strength.  .  .  .  We  are  under  the  most  imperious 
obligation  to  counteract  every  tendency  to  disunion. 
.  .  .  Whatever  impedes  the  intercourse  of  the  ex 
tremes  with  this,  the  center  of  the  Republic,  weakens 
the  Union." 

The  one  section  which  was  impervious  to  these 
national  considerations  at  this  moment  was  New  Eng 
land  ;  but  it  was  President  Madison,  and  not  New 
England,  who  defeated  the  Bonus  Bill.  On  the  day 
before  he  left  office,  Madison  sent  to  Congress  a 
notable  veto  message.  Reverting  to  his  earlier  faith, 
he  pronounced  the  measure  unconstitutional.  Neither 
the  express  words  of  the  Constitution  nor  any  fair 
inference  could,  in  his  judgment,  warrant  the  exercise 
of  such  powers  by  Congress.  To  pass  the  bill  over  his 


258          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

veto  was  impossible.  Monroe,  too,  in  his  first  message 
to  Congress  intimated  that  he  also  held  strict  views 
of  the  powers  of  Congress.  The  policy  of  internal 
improvements  by  Federal  aid  was  thus  wrecked  on 
the  constitutional  scruples  of  the  last  of  the  Virginia 
dynasty. 

Having  less  regard  for  consistency,  the  House  of 
Representatives  recorded  its  conviction,  by  close 
votes,  that  Congress  could  appropriate  money  to  con 
struct  roads  and  canals,  but  had  not  the  power  to 
construct  them.  As  yet  the  only  direct  aid  of  the 
National  Government  to  internal  improvements  con 
sisted  of  various  appropriations,  amounting  to  about 
$1,500,000  for  the  Cumberland  Road. 

Circumstances  were  also  pressing  the  claims  of  the 
Far  West  upon  the  Government.  Beyond  the  scat 
tered  settlements  of  Illinois  and  Indiana  extended 
vast  forests,  known  only  to  the  Indians  and  the  fur 
traders.  With  the  experiences  of  the  war  fresh  in 
mind,  the  new  Secretary  of  War,  Calhoun,  urged 
upon  the  Government  the  necessity  of  taking  resolute 
measures  to  hold  this  territory.  Laws  excluding  for 
eigners  from  the  Indian  trade  were  passed  ;  forts 
were  established  at  strategic  points  like  Chicago, 
Prairie  clu  Chien,  and  Green  Bay ;  and  in  1820, 
Governor  Cass,  of  the  Michigan  Territory,  was  sent 
on  an  expedition  through  the  Wisconsin  forests  into 
Minnesota,  to  assert  American  claims  wherever 
British  influence  was  still  felt. 

Still  farther  west  lay  an  almost  unknown  region 
of  imperial  dimensions.  Save  where  venturesome 
pioneers  had  pushed  up  the  Arkansas  and  the  Mis- 


THE   WESTWARD   MOVEMENT       259 

aouri,  and  where  the  Spaniards  maintained  their  feeble 
hold  in  the  Southwest,  no  white  men  inhabited  the 
great  prairies  which  swept  westward  to  the  foothills 
of  the  Rockies.  Only  nomadic  Indian  tribes  and  oc 
casional  traders  followed  the  buffalo  trails  across 
this  wide  expanse.  Between  the  Rocky  Mountains 
and  the  Pacific  was  the  region  which  Lewis  and  Clark 
had  penetrated.  Along  the  valley  of  the  northern 
branch  of  the  Columbia  River,  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  had  planted  their  trading  posts.  Farther 
to  the  south  lay  Spanish  California  and  the  ill-defined 
region  to  the  eastward  over  which  presidios  main 
tained  a  shadowy  jurisdiction. 

On  October  20, 1818,  Benjamin  Rush  and  Albert 
Gallatin,  ministers  to  England  and  France  respec 
tively,  concluded  a  convention  with  Great  Britain 
which  left  the  fate  of  the  Oregon  country  in  suspense 
for  a  period  of  ten  years.  To  the  British  claims 
of  prior  discovery  by  Cook  and  Mackenzie  and  of 
prior  occupation  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  the 
American  commissioners  opposed  the  claims  based 
on  the  voyage  of  Captain  Gray  in  1792  and  on  the 
founding  of  Astoria  by  John  Jacob  Astor  in  1811. 
It  was  finally  agreed  that  the  northern  boundary  of 
the  United  States  should  run  from  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods  to  the  Stony  Mountains,  along  the  forty-ninth 
parallel,  and  that  the  disputed  country  beyond  the 
mountains  should  be  occupied  jointly  for  a  period  of 
ten  years.  An  agreement  was  also  reached  regarding 
the  Newfoundland  and  Labrador  fisheries. 

On  another  frontier  conditions  existed  to  which 
Congress  could  not  remain  indifferent.  East  Florida 


260          UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 

was  still  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  Georgia  and  Alabama. 
The  province  had  become  a  rendezvous  for  pirates, 
filibusters,  renegade  Indians,  and  runaway  negroes. 
Creek  warriors  who  would  not  submit  to  the  loss  of 
their  lands  had  taken  refuge  with  their  kinsmen,  the 
Seminoles,  and  were  inciting  malcontents  of  every 
stripe  against  the  whites.  A  band  of  negroes,  esti 
mated  at  not  less  than  a  thousand  in  number,  together 
with  some  Creek  Indians,  had  taken  possession  of  an 
abandoned  fort  on  the  Apalachicola  and  had  terror 
ized  the  country  for  miles  around.  The  Spanish  com 
mander  at  Pensacola  was  summoned  to  destroy  this 
pirates'  nest  and  to  disperse  the  marauders;  but  he 
was  either  unable  or  unwilling  to  do  so,  and  in  1816 
a  red-hot  shot  from  a  United  States  gunboat  blew 
up  the  magazine  of  the  negro  fort,  killing  nearly 
three  hundred  men,  women,  and  children.  Early  in 
1818,  in  equally  summary  fashion  troops  of  the 
United  States  expelled  a  band  of  freebooters  from 
Amelia  Island. 

The  slight  regard  which  the  United  States  paid 
to  the  territorial  sovereignty  of  Spain  in  Florida 
sprang  from  a  general  conviction  that  Spain  could 
not  and  would  not  observe  the  provisions  of  the 
Treaty  of  1795.  Spain  had  then  agreed  to  restrain 
the  Indians  living  within  her  borders  from  attacking 
the  citizens  or  Indians  of  the  United  States.  President 
Monroe  seemed  to  assume  that  Spain  had  forfeited 
her  rights  over  Florida.  At  all  events,  he  authorized 
General  Andrew  Jackson  to  assume  command  of  the 
forces  at  Fort  Scott  and  to  call  on  the  governors  of 
adjacent  States  for  militia  to  terminate  the  war. 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT       261 

This  order  of  December  26,  1817,  was  stated  in 
dangerously  broad  terms.  Jackson  did  not  doubt  for 
an  instant  that  it  authorized  him  to  pursue  the  In 
dians  into  Florida.  To  his  mind  the  time  seemed 
opportune  for  the  seizure  of  East  Florida  as  an  in 
demnity  for  the  outrages  committed  by  the  Seminoles. 
He  wrote  to  the  President  to  this  effect.  "  Let  it  be 
signified  to  me,"  said  he,  u  through  any  channel  (say 
Mr.  J.  Rhea)  that  the  possession  of  the  Floridas 
would  be  desirable  to  the  United  States  and  in  sixty 
days  it  will  be  accomplished." 

To  his  dying  day  Jackson  maintained  that  the 
President  signified  his  approval  through  Congress 
man  Rhea,  of  Tennessee.  Monroe  denied  that  he 
had  read  Jackson's  letter  until  after  the  exploits 
which  so  nearly  plunged  the  country  into  war  with 
Spain.  Whatever  may  be  the  truth  of  the  matter, 
General  Jackson  acted  in  accord  with  what  he  be 
lieved  to  be  the  President's  desires.  "With  a  thou 
sand  men  he  marched  across  the  border  and  was 
soon  in  possession  of  St.  Mark's.  Among  those  who 
fell  into  his  hands  was  Alexander  Arbuthnot,  a 
Scotch  trader  who  was  suspected  of  inciting  the  In 
dians.  Continuing  his  march,  Jackson  surprised  and 
captured  Suwanee,  another  rendezvous  of  Indians 
and  runaway  negroes.  Here  he  found  Robert  Am- 
brister,  another  British  subject,  who  was  also  re 
garded  as  a  suspicious  character.  Returning  to  St. 
Mark's,  Jackson  handed  these  two  suspects  over  to 
a  court  martial,  which  found  both  guilty  of  giving 
aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy  and  of  inciting  or  wag 
ing  war  against  the  United  States.  Arbuthnot  was 


2G2          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

hanged  from  the  yardarm  of  his  own  schooner ;  Ara- 
brister  was  shot.  The  fall  of  Pensacola  finished  the 
campaign.  By  the  end  of  May,  1818,  Florida  was 
in  the  possession  of  the  troops  of  the  United  States 
and  Jackson  was  on  his  way  to  Tennessee,  the  idol 
of  his  men  and  a  national  hero  in  the  estimation  of 
the  people  of  the  Southwest. 

The  outcome  of  these  exploits  might  easily  have 
been  war  with  both  Spain  and  Great  Britain.  Don 
Luis  de  Onis,  the  Spanish  Minister  at  Washington, 
immediately  suspended  the  negotiations  then  in  prog 
ress  respecting  the  Floridas  and  made  a  spirited 
protest  u  against  these  acts  of  hostility  and  invasion." 
He  demanded  the  immediate  restitution  of  the  places 
which  had  been  seized,  indemnity  for  all  damage  to 
property,  and  the  punishment  of  General  Jackson. 
As  for  Great  Britain,  Lord  Castlereagh  afterward 
said  that,  such  was  the  temper  of  Parliament  and 
the  country,  war  might  have  been  produced  by  hold 
ing  up  a  finger  and  an  address  to  the  Crown  carried 
by  an  almost  unanimous  vote. 

The  Cabinet  of  President  Monroe  was  divided 
over  the  course  to  be  pursued.  Calhoun  insisted  that 
Jackson  had  virtually  committed  an  act  of  war, 
which  should  be  promptly  disavowed.  But  Adams 
held  —  and  the  President  was  inclined  to  side  with 
him  —  that  in  reality  Spain  had  been  the  aggressor, 
and  that  Jackson  had  not  violated  the  spirit  of  his 
orders.  In  order  to  terminate  the  war,  Jackson  had 
been  obliged  to  cross  the  Spanish  line.  He  had  not 
done  so  with  the  purpose  of  waging  war  upon  Spain. 

Following  a  memorandum  made  by  the  President, 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT       263 

Adams  replied  to  Don  Onis  in  this  spirit.  Later,  in 
a  masterly  state  paper,  he  set  forth  the  intolerable 
conditions  which  obtained  on  the  Florida  frontier. 
The  lax  conduct  of  the  Spanish  authorities  was  held 
to  justify  the  aggressive  measures  of  Jackson.  The 
United  States  was  prepared  to  restore  Pensacola  and 
St.  Mark's  whenever  Spain  should  give  guaranties 
for  the  observance  of  treaty  obligations.  So  far  from 


Held  hy  U.S.  «fUr  1 
O  Taken  by  D.8.  In  18 
HI  Ceded  bj  Spain  in 


consenting  to  punish  Jackson,  the  United  States  de 
manded  the  punishment  of  those  Spanish  officials 
who  had  so  flagrantly  violated  the  obligations  of  the 
Treaty  of  1795.  "  Spain  must  immediately  make  her 
election  either  to*  place  a  force  in  Florida  at  once 
adequate  for  the  protection  of  her  territory  and  to 
the  fulfillment  of  her  engagements,  or  cede  to  the 
United  States  a  province  of  which  she  retains  noth 
ing  but  the  nominal  possession."  This  latter  alter- 


264          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

native,  indeed,  the  Administration  never  lost  from 
view. 

Confronted  by  the  revolt  of  all  her  American  colo 
nies,  Spain  could  hardly  resist  this  insistent  pressure 
upon  a  province  which  she  could  neither  govern  nor 
defend.  On  February  22,  1819,  Don  Onis  set  his 
hand  to  a  treaty  which  ceded  the  Floridas  in  re 
turn  for  the  assumption  by  the  United  States  of 
claims  of  American  citizens  against  her  to  an  amount 
not  exceeding  $5, 000, 000.  The  treaty  contained  also 
a  definition  of  the  boundary  between  Spanish  and 
American  possessions  on  the  North  American  con 
tinent.  Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sabine  Kiver, 
the  line  ran  along  that  river  to  the  thirty-second 
parallel ;  thence  due  north  to  the  Red  River,  which 
it  followed  to  the  hundredth  meridian  ;  thence  north 
to  the  Arkansas  and  along  that  river  to  its  source  ; 
thence  to  the  forty-second  parallel,  which  it  followed 
to  the  Pacific.  As  the  United  States  renounced  all 
claims  to  the  west  and  south  of  this  boundary,  k> 
Spain  surrendered  whatever  shadowy  title  she  had 
to  the  Northwest. 

The  ratification  of  the  Florida  Treaty  was  delayed 
by  the  attempt  of  the  Spanish  Crown  to  grant  ex 
tensive  tracts  to  certain  grandees,  and  by  the  vig 
orous  opposition  of  Henry  Clay  in  the  House  of 
Representatives.  The  treaty  seemed  to  him  a  bad 
bargain.  "What  do  we  get?"  hfc  cried.  "We  get 
Florida  loaded  and  encumbered  with  land  grants 
which  leave  scarcely  a  foot  of  soil  for  the  United 
States.  What  do  we  give  ?  We  give  Texas  free  and 
unencumbered,  and  we  surrender  all  our  claims  on 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT       265 

Spain  for  damages  not  included  in  that  five  millions 
of  dollars."  He  challenged  the  right  of  the  Presi 
dent  and  Senate  to  alienate  territory  without  the 
consent  of  the  House.  Behind  Clay's  opposition  lay 
some  personal  pique  against  the  President  and  his 
Secretary  of  State ;  but  he  voiced,  nevertheless,  the 
spirit  of  the  Southwest,  which  already  looked  toward 
Texas  as  a  possible  field  of  expansion  and  resented 
its  surrender. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  westward  movement  is  described  in  various  chapters  of 
volumes  iv  and  v  of  McMaster,  History  of  the  People  of  the  United 
States.  The  significance  of  the  movement  is  best  explained  in  F.  J. 
Turner,  Rise  of  the  New  West,  1819-1829  (in  The  American  Nation, 
vol.  14,  1906),  which  contains  also  excellent  chapters  on  the  socia^ 
and  economic  life  of  the  different  sections  of  the  country.  Th» 
highways  and  waterways  to  the  West  are  described  in  A.  B.  Hurl- 
bert,  Historic  Highways  of  America  (16  vols.,  1902-05).  A  sum 
mary  account  of  the  development  of  transportation  is  given  in 
J.  L.  Ringwalt,  Development  of  Transportation  Systems  in  the  United 
States  (1888).  Among  the  biographies  which  contribute  materially 
to  an  understanding  of  the  new  West  may  be  mentioned  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  Thomas  H.  Benton  (1887),  and  James  Parton,  Life  of 
Andrew  Jackson  (3  vols.,  1860).  Edward  Eggleston,  The  Circuit 
Rider  (1888),  and  the  Autobiography  of  Peter  Cartwright  (1856), 
touch  upon  important  aspects  of  frontier  life.  The  importance  of 
the  German  element  in  American  history  is  admirably  set  forth  in 
Faust,  The  German  Element  in  the  United  States  (2  vols.,  1909). 
The  spread  of  New  Englanders  in  the  West  is  described  by  L.  K. 
Mathews,  The  Expansion  of  New  England  (1909).  The  diplomatic 
negotiations  which  resulted  in  the  cession  of  Florida  are  reviewed 
by  F.  E.  Chadwick,  The  Relations  of  the  United  States  and  Spain 
(1909). 


CHAPTER  XV 

HARD    TIMES 

THE  phrase  "  era  of  good  feelings  "  applied  to  the 
Administration  of  President  Monroe  is  a  misnomer. 
It  is  descriptive  neither  of  politics  nor  of  business 
and  industry,  for  the  historic  Democratic  party  was 
all  but  rent  by  bitter  personal  animosities,  and 
the  country  was  prostrated  by  a  severe  industrial 
crisis. 

The  first  symptoms  of  hard  times  appeared  in  the 
early  months  of  the  year  1819.  Undoubtedly  the 
causes  of  the  crisis  were  world-wide  ;  but  local  con 
ditions  go  far  to  explain  the  industrial  collapse  in 
the  United  States.  All  indications  point  to  the  con 
clusion  that  the  country  was  experiencing  the  inev 
itable  reaction  from  a  period  of  too  rapid  commer 
cial  expansion  and  of  unsound  speculation.  The  high 
prices  of  commodities  after  the  war  had  given  a  sort 
of  fictitious  prosperity  to  industry  and  trade,  and 
had  encouraged  unduly  the  spirit  of  commercial 
enterprise.  On  credit  easily  secured  from  wild-cat 
banks,  the  Western  pioneer  had  bought  lands  beyond 
the  purchasing  power  of  his  own  meager  capital ;  and 
the  speculator  in  turn  had  borrowed  money  to  secure 
title  to  lands  which  he  would  unload  upon  unsus 
pecting  settlers.  State  banks  had  met  these  demands 
by  liberal  issues  of  notes  which  were  imperfectly 
covered  by  their  specie  reserves.  It  needed  only  a 


HARD  TIMES  2G7 

sudden  demand  for  liquidation  to  cause  widespread 
distress. 

The  unwise  management  of  the  National  Bank 
may  have  contributed  to  the  approaching  disaster. 
The  branch  banks  in  the  South  and  West  had  loaned 
freely,  issuing  notes  which  were  payable  at  any 
branch  of  the  National  Bank.  Capital  was  thus  di 
verted  from  the  East  to  sections  of  the  country 
where  there  was  least  conservatism  in  banking.  In 
1818,  the  directors  of  the  Bank  became  alarmed  at 
the  excessive  expansion  of  credit,  and  issued  instruc 
tions  which  compelled  the  redemption  of  notes  at 
the  bank  where  they  were  issued.  At  the  same  time 
the  branch  banks  curtailed  their  loans.  This  sudden 
reversal  of  policy  caused  a  fearful  pressure  which 
was  transmitted  from  creditor  to  debtor  all  along 
the  line. 

Every  sufferer  by  the  panic  was  disposed  to  blame 
the  National  Bank  for  his  misfortunes,  particularly 
as  it  was  common  rumor  that  the  directors  of  the 
Bank  had  speculated  in  its  stock  and  had  used  their 
influence  to  cripple  local  banks.  Congress  had  been 
obliged  to  take  cognizance  of  these  charges  and  to 
appoint  a  committee  to  investigate  the  condition  of 
the  institution.  On  the  report  of  this  committee,  in 
January,  1819,  the  stock  of  the  Bank  fell  from  140 
to  93.  The  investigation  revealed  nothing  worse 
than  mismanagement ;  but  a  vigorous  effort  was  made 
in  Congress  to  revoke  the  charter. 

The  widespread  hostility  of  the  West  and  South 
toward  the  National  Bank  was  born  at  this  time. 
Everywhere  it  was  known  as  "  the  Monster."  State 


268          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

after  State  passed  acts  to  tax  the  branch  banks  out 
of  existence.  The  decision  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
to  be  sure,  in  the  famous  case  of  M'Culloch  v. 
Maryland,  declared  emphatically  that  the  States 
had  no  constitutional  power  to  tax  the  branches  of 
an  institution  chartered  under  the  laws  of  the  United 
States;  nevertheless,  the  legislature  of  Ohio  deliber 
ately  levied  such  a  tax,  and  when  resistance  was 
offered  to  its  collection,  withdrew  the  protection  of 
the  State  from  the  branch  banks.  -  Feeling  themselves 
the  victims  of  the  money  power,  the  people  in  many 
of  the  Western  States  resorted  to  the  remedies  which 
were  broached  during  hard  times  under  the  Confed 
eration.  Kentucky  became  notorious  by  reason  of  its 
laws  in  behalf  of  the  debtor  class.  In  every  Western 
State  there  was  a  disposition  to  seek  shelter  from  the 
operation  of  federal  law  behind  the  aegis  of  State 
rights.  The  people  of  these  newer  communities  were 
slow  to  accept  the  force  of  precedent  in  cases  decided 
by  the  federal  courts.  Andrew  Jackson  voiced  this 
feeling  when  he  became  President.  "  Mere  prece 
dent,"  said  he,  "  is  a  dangerous  source  of  authority, 
and  should  not  be  regarded  as  deciding  questions  of 
constitutional  power,  except  where  the  acquiescence 
of  the  people  and  the  States  can  be  considered  a3^ 
well  settled." 

That  there  was  much  real  suffering  during  this 
panic  admits  of  no  doubt.  Niles  estimated  that  not 
less  than  twenty  thousand  persons  were  seeking  em 
ployment  in  Philadelphia  in  the  summer  of  1819, 
and  quite  as  many  wandering  in  the  streets  of  New 
York  looking  for  work.  In  both  cities  soup-houses 


HARD  TIMES  269 

were  established  by  private  charitable  societies  to 
relieve  distress  in  the  following  winter.  In  the  city 
of  New  York,  during  the  year  1816,  over  nineteen 
hundred  unfortunates  were  imprisoned  for  debt ;  and 
of  these,  over  seven  hundred  owed  less  than  twenty- 
five  dollars. 

But  it  was  not  merely  the  city  dweller  who  felt 
the  pinch  of  poverty.  Thousands  of  Western  settlers 
who  had  purchased  land  under  the  Act  of  1800, 
which  permitted  deferred  payments,  found  them- 
selves  insolvent.  More  than  $21,000,000,  one  fifth 
of  the  national  debt,  remained  unpaid  in  the  year 
1820.  To  the  importunities  of  these  debtors  Congress 
had  yielded  from  time  to  time,  but  it  was  not  until 
1821  that  it  passed  the  first  general  relief  act. 
Those  who  had  not  completed  their  payments  within 
the  prescribed  five  years  were  then  permitted  to  give 
up  the  land  which  they  had  not  paid  for,  and  to  ap 
ply  the  payments  already  made  to  the  full  purchase 
of  the  lands  which  they  retained.  Arrears  of  interest 
were  remitted. 

In  1820,  Congress  passed  an  act  which  wrought 
a  far-reaching  change  in  the  disposal  of  the  public 
domain.  The  credit  system  was  abolished  outright. 
After  July  1,  1820,  land  was  to  be  sold  for  cash  at 
a  minimum  price  of  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  an  acre, 
and  in  eighty-acre  tracts.  A  payment  of  one  hun 
dred  dollars,  then,  would  make  a  settler  the  owner 
of  eighty  acres  in  his  own  right.  The  prospect  of 
actual  ownership  of  a  small  tract  made  him  far  less 
ready  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  tempter  in  the 
form  of  the  speculator,  who  had  heretofore  lured 


270 


UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 


him   to   make   larger  purchases  on  credit  than  he 
could  ever  pay  for  by  the  labor  of  his  hands. 

In  the  midst  of  this  period  of  financial  depression, 
the  Territory  of  Missouri  applied  for  admission  into 
the  Union.  On  February  13, 1819,  while  an  enabling 
act  was  under  consideration  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  James  Tallmadge,  of  New  York,  moved 

an  amendment 
which  touched 
Southern  inter 
ests  to  the  quick. 
"And  provided, 
That  the  further 
introduction  of 
slavery  or  invol 
untary  servitude 
be  prohibited,  ex 
cept  for  the  pun 
ishment  of  cr  i  mes, 
whereof  the  par 
ty  shall  have  been 
duly  convicted ; 
and  that  all  chil 
dren  born  within 
the  said  State,  after  the  admission  thereof  into  the 
Union,  shall  be  free  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years." 
This  bold  attempt  to  prevent  the  spread  of  slav 
ery  provoked  a  brief  but  momentous  debate.  Clay 
left  the  Speaker's  chair  to  remonstrate,  "  in  the 
name  of  humanity,"  against  a  policy  which  could 
result,  he  believed,  only  in  the  misery  of  the  slaves 
of  the  South.  The  lot  of  the  negro  would  be  vastly 


r 

Distribution 
of  Slaves  , 
1820 


l.OOO.Uve. 

BH    Between  1,000  and  25,000 
gaaaa    Between  25, 000  and  200, 000 
^^    Over  200, 000 
Dates  indicate  beginning  of  emancipation 


_Lon?it  ude    90'   West   from   Greenwich 


HARD   TIMES  271 

improved  if  the  unfortunate  people  were  more  widely 
dispersed.  Taylor,  of  New  York,  called  this  a  spe 
cious  plea.  "  It  is  that  humanity,"  said  he,  "  which 
seeks  to  palliate  disease  by  the  application  of  nos 
trums,  which  scatter  its  seeds  through  the  whole 
system."  To  open  the  West  to  slavery  would  be  simply 
to  create  an  additional  demand  for  the  importation 
of  slaves.  Of  those  Southern  Representatives  who 
took  part  in  this  debate,  not  a  man  posed  as  the  de 
fender  of  slavery  in  the  abstract.  Barbour,  of  Vir 
ginia,  frankly  admitted  that  slavery  "  like  all  other 
human  things  is  mixed  with  good  and  evil  —  the  lat 
ter,  no  doubt,  preponderating."  And  Johnson,  of 
Kentucky,  maintained  that  though  slavery  might  be 
a  necessary  evil,  "not  incompatible  with  true  reli 
gion,"  even  so  "  slavery  must  still  be  a  bitter  draught." 

What  rankled  in  the  breasts  of  all  Southern  men 
was  the  insinuation  that  their  social  system  was 
founded  011  hypocrisy  and  tyranny.  Tallmadge  com 
mented  with  biting  sarcasm  on  the  willingness  of 
Southern  gentlemen  to  contribute  to  missionary  en 
terprises  for  the  uplifting  of  the  Hottentots  and 
Hindus,  and  their  determination  to  keep  their  Afri 
can  slaves  in  ignorance.  And  his  colleague  con 
trasted  the  plantations,  overrun  with  weeds  on  one 
side  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  with  the  cultivated 
farms  on  the  other :  in  Pennsylvania,  he  observed 
"  a  neat,  blooming,  animated,  rosy-cheeked  peasan 
try  "  ;  in  Maryland,  "  a  squalid,  slow-motioned  black 
population."  These  were  barbed  shafts  which  left 
sore  wounds. 

When  the  Union   was    formed,   African  negroes 


272          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

were  held  in  servitude  in  all  but  two  of  the  States. 
At  the  time  of  this  debate,  slavery  had  been  abol 
ished,  or  was  on  the  way  to  ultimate  extinction,  in 
every  State  north  of  Maryland  and  Delaware.  Cli 
mate  rather  than  humanitarian  considerations  sealed 
the  fate  of  slavery  at  the  North ;  and  climate,  in  the 
last  analysis,  fastened  African  slavery  on  the  South. 
As  the  South  became  committed  to  the  raising  of  a 
staple,  and  that  staple  cotton,  the  negro  was  re 
garded  as  an  indispensable  factor  in  plantation  econ 
omy.  There  were  far-sighted  individuals,  it  is  true, 
who  deprecated  slavery  on  humanitarian  grounds; 
but  they  were,  for  the  most  part,  citizens  of  border 
States  where  the  profitableness  of  negro  labor  was 
less  apparent.  Even  in  these  communities  opposition 
to  slavery  was  tempered  by  dread  of  what  emanci 
pation  might  bring  in  its  train.  The  history  of  Santo 
Domingo  revealed  the  hideous  possibilities  of  a  negro 
insurrection.  No  father  of  a  family  could  contemplate 
with  equanimity  the  proximity  of  a  large  body  of 
free,  semi-civilized  blacks.  For  a  time  even  promi 
nent  slaveholders  favored  the  aims  of  the  Coloniza 
tion  Society  which  proposed  to  deport  emancipated 
blacks  to  the  African  coast.  So  late  as  1820  the 
Governor  of  Virginia  recommended  an  appropriation 
by  the  legislature  for  the  emancipation  and  removal 
of  the  negroes. 

Although  slavery  was  a  local  institution,  and 
regulated  by  state  law,  its  existence  was  recognized 
by  the  Federal  Convention  of  1787.  The  arrange 
ment  which  obtained  under  the  old  Confederation, 
whereby  five  slaves  were  to  count  as  three  whites  in 


HARD  TIMES  273 

apportioning  representation  and  taxes,  was  con 
tinued  ;  the  mutual  obligation  of  the  States  to  return 
fugitives  from  justice  and  labor  was  distinctly  stated 
in  the  Constitution  ;  and  the  slave  trade  was  per 
mitted  to  continue  at  least  to  the  year  1808. 

In  1793,  Congress  had  met  its  constitutional  obli 
gations  by  enacting  a  law  for  the  return  of  fugitive 
slaves  ;  and  in  1794,  Congress  passed  an  act  —  "  the 
first  national  act  against  the  slave  trade  "  —  which 
prohibited  all  trade  in  slaves  from  the  United  States 
to  any  foreign  country.  By  the  opening  of  the  new 
century  all  the  States  had  forbidden  the  importa 
tion  of  slaves  from  abroad.  But  in  1803,  South 
Carolina  again  legalized  the  slave  trade ;  and  in 
1805,  Congress  after  a  brief  interdiction  removed  all 
restrictions  upon  the  importation  of  slaves  into  the 
Louisiana  Territory.  The  slave  trade  at  once  as 
sumed  alarming  proportions.  It  was  officially  stated 
that  between  1803  and  1807,  39,075  negroes  were 
brought  into  the  port  of  Charleston.  Eighteen  hun 
dred  of  these  unfortunate  blacks  were  imported  in 
American  vessels.  One  half  of  the  consignees  of 
these  slavers  were  Americans,  of  whom  thirteen  were 
natives  of  Charleston  and  eighty-eight  of  Rhode 
Island. 

This  traffic,  coupled  with  the  alarm  caused  by 
negro  insurrections  in  the  West  Indies,  prepared 
the  public  mind  for  positive  action,  as  the  year  ap 
proached  when  Congress  might  constitutionally  pro 
hibit  the  foreign  slave  trade.  The  Act  of  March  2, 
1807,  however,  only  partially  met  the  expectations 
of  the  anti-slavery  people.  The  African  slave  trade 


274          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

was  forbidden,  but  negroes  illegally  imported  were 
to  be  disposed  of  as  the  legislatures  of  the  several 
States  should  determine.  There  was  reason  to  fear 
that  the  Southern  States  would  neglect  to  legislate 
on  this  important  matter,  and  that  the  act  would  be 
indifferently  enforced.  Moreover,  the  coastwise  slave 
trade  for  purposes  of  sale  was  not  interdicted,  but 
forbidden  only  in  vessels  under  forty  tons  burden. 

That  the  Act  of  1807  did  not  prevent  the  African 
slave  trade  was  patent  to  every  one  who  knew  con 
ditions  in  the  Southern  Seaboard  States;  but  the 
extent  of  this  traffic  can  only  be  surmised.  During 
the  debates  on  the  Missouri  Bill,  Tallmadge  stated 
that  fourteen  thousand  negroes  had  been  brought 
into  the  country  within  the  last  year,  and  the  state 
ment  was  not  challenged. 

When  the  Missouri  controversy  was  renewed  in 
the  session  of  December,  1819,  the  number  of  free 
States  equaled  the  number  of  slave  States.  The  addi 
tion  of  a  twenty-third  State,  then,  would  unsettle  the 
equilibrium  between  the  sections  in  the  Senate.  A 
growing  antagonism  based  upon  widely  different  eco 
nomic  and  social  organizations  was  coming  to  be  felt 
—  felt  rather  than  clearly  perceived  and  openly  recog 
nized.  In  the  year  1800,  the  two  sections  had  been 
nearly  equal  in  population  ;  in  1820,  the  North  out 
numbered  the  South  by  over  half  a  million.  This  dis 
parity  in  numbers  had  a  direct  political  significance, 
for  the  national  House  of  Representatives  was  be 
yond  all  question  controlled  by  the  delegations  from 
the  free  States.  No  great  prescience  was  needed  to 
warn  the  South  that  in  self-defense  it  must  maintain 


HARD   TIMES  275 

the  even  balance  of  sections  in  the  Senate.  The  con 
test  for  Missouri  was  therefore  essentially  "  a  strug 
gle  for  sectional  domination." 

The  Tallintulge  amendment  was  passed  by  the 
House,  but  rejected  by  the  Senate,  after  a  heated  de 
bate  which  convinced  Southern  statesmen  that  there 
was  a  distinct  anti-slavery  sentiment  at  the  North. 
The  adjournment  of  Congress  threw  the  whole  contro 
versy  into  the  crucible  of  public  opinion.  The  latent 
hostility  of  men  and  women  with  humanitarian  sym 
pathies  was  at  once  raised  to  white  heat.  Mass  meet 
ings  in  city,  town,  and  county  passed  resolutions 
against  the  spread  of  slavery  and  the  admission  of 
more  slave  States.  Yet  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  the 
public  conscience  was  deeply  touched.  The  leaven  of 
abolitionism  had  to  work  many  years  before  it  could 
produce  results  in  politics. 

The  whole  question  assumed  a  new  guise  when 
Congress  met  in  December,  1820.  The  people  of 
Maine  had  held  a  convention  and  formed  a  constitu 
tion,  and  were  now  applying  for  admission  as  a  State. 
Here  was  a  free  State  which  would  offset  Missouri  if  it 
were  admitted  as  a  slave  State.  When  the  House 
passed  a  bill  to  admit  Maine,  the  Senate  promptly  at 
tached  to  it,  as  a  "rider,"  a  bill  for  the  admission  of 
Missouri  without  any  prohibition  of  slavery.  It  was  to 
this  bill  that  Senator  Thomas,  of  Illinois,  represent 
ing  a  constituency  divided  against  itself  on  the  sub 
ject  of  slavery,  offered  an  amendment  in  the  nature 
of  a  compromise.  He  would  admit  Missouri  as  a  slave 
State,  but  prohibit  slavery  forever  in  the  rest  of  the 
old  Province  of  Louisiana  north  of  36°  30'.  The 


276          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Senate  accepted  this  amendment  and  sent  the  bill  to 
the  House.  Here  the  original  Maine  Bill  was  stripped 
of  the  rider  and  the  Thomas  amendment  by  large  ma 
jorities.  Shortly  after  this  vigorous  assertion  of  in 
dependence,  the  House  passed  a  bill  for  the  admis 
sion  of  Missouri  with  the  prohibition  of  slavery.  The 
deadlock  seemed  complete. 

The  constitutional  aspects  of  the  problem  called 
forth  some  exceedingly  able  argumentation.  Those 
who  favored  imposing  a  restriction  upon  Missouri 
argued,  plausibly  enough,  that  as  Congress  was  given 
the  power  to  admit  new  States,  so  it  was  fully  war 
ranted  in  exercising  discretion  and  refusing  to  admit. 
Precedents  existed  for  imposing  restrictions.  Three 
States  carved  out  of  the  Northwest  Territory  had 
been  admitted  on  condition  that  their  constitutions 
should  not  be  repugnant  to  the  sixth  article  of  the 
Ordinance  of  1787.  The  State  of  Louisiana  had  been 
admitted  under  explicit  conditions.  It  was  fully  com 
petent  for  Congress,  by  virtue  of  its  authority  over 
Territories,  to  regulate  all  the  stages  in  the  process 
of  framing  a  constitution,  and  then  to  give  or  to 
withhold  its  approval. 

The  most  brilliant  argument  on  the  other  side  was 
made  by  William  Pinkney,  of  Maryland.  Conceding 
that  the  power  of  Congress  was  discretionary,  he  in 
sisted  that  Congress  might  not  exact  terms  which 
would  interfere  with  the  results  to  be  accomplished. 
"  What,  then,"  he  asked,  "is  the  professed  result? 
To  admit  a  State  into  this  Union.  What  is  that  Union? 
.  .  .  An  equal  Union  between  parties  equally  sover 
eign.  ...  It  is  into  that  Union  that  a  new  State  is 


HARD   TIMES  277 

to  come.  By  acceding  to  it  the  new  State  is  placed  on 
the  same  footing  with  the  original  States.  ...  If  it 
comes  in  shorn  of  its  beams  —  crippled  and  dispar 
aged  beyond  the  original  States  —  it  is  not  into  the 
original  Union  that  it  comes.  ,  The  first  was  a 

O 

Union  inter  pares;  this  is  a  Union  between  dispar 
ates,  between  giants  and  a  dwarf,  between  power  and 
feebleness,  between  full  proportioned  sovereignties 
and  a  miserable  image  of  power." 

Yet  there  were  Senators  and  Representatives  from 
the  North  who  would  not  be  diverted  from  the  dis 
cussion  of  the  larger  sectional  and  ethical  issues  in 
volved  in  the  extension  of  slavery.  Chief  among  these 
was  Rufus  King,  who  then  represented  New  York  in 
the  Senate.  His  cogent  arguments  made  a  profound 
impression.  "The  great  slaveholders  in  the  House,'* 
Adams  wrote  in  his  journal,  "gnawed  their  lips  and 
clenched  their  fists  as  they  heard  him." 

Meantime,  a  joint  committee  of  conference  was 
endeavoring  to  reconcile  the  differences  between 
the  House  and  the  Senate.  The  House  was  put 
at  a  disadvantage  by  the  approach  of  March  4  - 
when  the  consent  of  Massachusetts  to  the  admis 
sion  of  Maine  would  expire.  It  was  finally  agreed 
that  the  Senate  should  pass  the  bill  admitting  Maine 
as  a  separate  measure,  while  the  House  should  accept 
the  Missouri  Bill  with  the  Thomas  amendment. 
Missouri,  in  short,  was  to  come  in  as  a  slave  State, 
but  slavery  was  forever  prohibited  in  the  rest  of  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  north  of  her  southern  boundary. 
An  analysis  of  the  voting  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  reveals  no  clear-cut  sectional  divisions, 


House  Vote  on  the  Missouri  Compromise 
March  2,  1820 


For 

Against 
Figures  indicate  Tote  Ly  states 


HARD   TIMES  270 

though  it  forecasts  a  time  when  slavery  might  split 
parties  along  sectional  lines.  In  New  England  and 
the  Middle  States  public  opinion  had  not  yet  crystal 
lized  into  inflexible  opposition  to  the  spread  of  slav 
ery;  but  the  Northwest  was  distinctly  in  favor  of  a 
restriction  upon  Missouri.  The  Southwest  and  the 
South  were  a  unit  in  desiring  the  admission  of  Mis 
souri  as  a  slave  State. 

In  the  fall  of  1820,  the  Missouri  question  in  an 
other  form  returned  to  vex  Congress.  When  the 
constitution  of  the  State  was  presented  to  Congress, 
it  was  found  to  contain  a  clause  which  excluded  free 
negroes.  Again  the  two  houses  locked  horns.  Pas 
sions  rose  again.  The  work  of  the  preceding  session 
seemed  about  to  be  undone.  But  under  the  persua 
sive  leadership  of  Henry  Clay,  a  joint  committee 
elaborated  a  resolution  which  was  acceptable  to  both 
houses.  Missouri  was  to  be  admitted  on  the  express 
condition  that  the  offending  clause  in  her  constitu 
tion  should  never  be  construed  so  as  to  authorize  the 
passing  of  any  law  by  which  any  citizen  of  any  of 
the  States  of  the  Union  should  be  deprived  of  his 
privileges  and  immunities  under  the  Federal  Consti 
tution.  The  legislature  of  Missouri  was  to  give  its 
solemn  consent  to  this  fundamental  condition.  Then, 
and  not  until  then,  the  President  was  to  declare  Mis 
souri  a  member  of  the  Union.  The  State  complied 
with  the  requirement,  though  in  the  same  breath 
protesting  that  all  this  was  an  empty  form,  since 
Congress  could  not  thus  bind  a  State.  On  August 
10,  1821,  President  Monroe  declared  Missouri  a 
State  of  the  Union. 


280          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

In  the  midst  of  this  exciting  controversy,  Monroe 
was  reflected  President.  Nowhere  but  in  Pennsyl 
vania  was  there  any  serious  opposition.  Old  distinc 
tions  of  party  had  so  far  disappeared  that  the 
venerable  ex-President  John  Adams  was  chosen  as  a 
presidential  elector  in  Massachusetts,  and  voted  with 
his  fourteen  colleagues  —  who  were  half  Federalists 
and  half  Democrats  —  for  James  Monroe.  In  the 
electoral  count  Monroe  lacked  only  a  single  vote  of 
a  unanimous  election. 

When  the  electoral  vote  was  about  to  be  counted, 
an  embarrassing  question  arose  with  regard  to  the 
vote  of  Missouri.  As  the  State  had  not  yet  com 
plied  with  the  condition  imposed  by  Congress,  its 
right  to  vote  was  challenged.  Again  Clay  appeared 
in  his  role  of  compromiser.  The  delicate  question 
was  adroitly  avoided  by  having  the  President  of  the 
Senate  announce  the  electoral  vote  with  and  without 
the  votes  of  Missouri.  At  last  the  Missouri  question 
was  disposed  of ;  but  words  had  been  uttered  which 
could  not  be  recalled ;  and  wounds  had  been  in 
flicted  which  left  scars.  The  South  could  never  quite 
forget  that  it  had  been  charged  with  conniving  at 
crime  in  maintaining  slavery.  "  You  have  kindled 
a  fire,"  said  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  to  Tallmadge, 
"  which  all  the  waters  of  the  ocean  cannot  put  out, 
which  seas  of  blood  only  can  extinguish." 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

An  account  of  the  crisis  of  1819  is  contained  in  F.  J.  Turner's 
Rise  of  the  New  West  (in  The  American  Nation,  vol.  14,  1906); 
a  shorter  and  less  satisfactory  account  in  A.  M.  Simons's  Social 


HARD   TIMES  281 

Forces  in  American  History  (1911).  Much  information  may  be 
gleaned  from  the  pages  of  McMaster's  history.  Detailed  informa 
tion  must  be  sought  in  the  special  studies  already  cited,  such  as 
R.  C.  H.  Catterall,  The  Second  Bank  of  the  United  States  (1903), 
and  P.  J.  Treat,  The  National  Land  System,  1785-1820  (1910). 
From  the  vast  literature  dealing  with  slavery  and  the  slavery  con 
troversy,  the  following  titles  may  be  selected  as  especially  impor 
tant:  W.  E.  B.  DuBois,  The  Suppression  of  the  African  Slave-Trade 
to  the  United  States  of  America,  1638-1870  (1896);  W.  H.  Collins, 
The  Domestic  Slave-Trade  (1904);  A.  B.  Hart,  Slavery  and  Abolition 
(in  The  American  Nation,  vol.  16,  1906);  N.  D.  Harris,  The 
History  of  Negro  Servitude  in  Illinois  (1904);  E.  R.  Turner,  The 
Negro  in  Pennsylvania  (1911);  and  a  number  of  monographs  in 
the  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies.  All  the  larger  histories 
discourse  with  great  particularity  upon  the  Missouri  controversy. 
Contemporary  views  of  the  congressional  struggle  are  presented 
in  J.  Q.  Adams's  Memoirs,  and  in  T.  H.  Benton's  Thirty  Years' 
View;  or,  A  History  of  the  Working  of  American  Government,  1820" 
ISoO  (2  vols.,  1854). 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE    NATIONAL    AWAKENING 

THERE  is  a  measure  of  truth  in  speaking  of  the 
War  of  1812  as  a  second  war  of  independence.  In 
throwing  off  the  shackles  of  British  commercial  as 
cendency,  American  society  experienced  much  the 
same  sense  of  elation  and  liberation  as  the  peoples 
of  Europe  who  contemporaneously  rose  in  their 
might  against  Napoleon  and  asserted  their  right  to 
independent  national  existence.  The  war  was  fol 
lowed  in  the  United  States  by  an  expansion  of  the 
vital  forces  of  the  nation  in  all  directions.  The  ear 
liest  manifestations  of  this  new  national  conscious 
ness,  however,  were  characteristically  boisterous. 
An  English  traveler,  who  visited  the  United  States 
soon  after  the  war,  found  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  talking  about  the  Guerriere,  the  Java,  the 
Macedonian,  the  Frolic,  Lake  Erie,  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  and  the  "  vast  inferiority  of  British  sailors 
and  soldiers  to  the  true-blooded  Yankees."  The 
events  of  the  war  were  commemorated  in  songs 
which  this  Briton  declared  —  and  no  doubt  truth 
fully  —  to  be  "  frothy,  senseless  bombast."  But 
whatever  limitations  of  culture  were  disclosed  by 
this  outburst  of  national  conceit,  no  one  could  doubt 
for  an  instant  that  an  exuberant  vitality  was  cours 
ing  through  the  veins  of  the  nation. 

It  was  a  fair  question,  however,  whether  this  na- 


THE   NATIONAL   AWAKENING       £83 

tional  feeling  would  find  expression  in  any  perma 
nent  literary  form.  A  literature  of  its  own  America 
did  not  possess :  every  one  with  literary  tastes  was 
forced  to  this  humiliating  admission.  Writing  from 
Berlin  in  1801,  John  Quincy  Adams  hailed  the  first 
number  of  Deimie's  Port  Folio  with  delight.  "The 
object,"  he  declared,  "  is  noble.  It  is  to  take  off 
that  foul  stain  of  literary  barbarism  which  has  so 
long  exposed  our  country  to  the  reproach  of  strangers 
and  to  the  derision  of  our  enemies."  But  the  peri 
odical  had  a  very  limited  circle  of  readers,  and  its 
literary  merits  were  slight.  The  Anthology  and 
Boston  Review,  founded  in  1805,  had  a  wider  influ 
ence  upon  letters  in  America ;  but  it  is  memorable 
chiefly  as  the  forerunner  of  the  North  American 
JReview,  modeled  upon  the  English  quarterlies,  which 
was  first  published  by  William  Tudor,  in  the  year 
1815,  at  Boston. 

The  publication  of  American  books  at  this  time 
was  a  hazardous  enterprise.  "  The  successful  book 
sellers  of  the  country,"  wrote  one  who  recalled  his 
own  experiences  in  the  book  trade,  "  were  for  the 
most  part  the  mere  reproducers  and  sellers  of  Eng 
lish  books."  Yet  American  publishers  often  showed 
commendable  enterprise.  In  1817,  Byron's  Manfred 
was  received,  printed,  and  published  at  Philadelphia 
in  a  single  day.  Wralter  Scott,  Moore,  Miss  Edge- 
worth,  Miss  Porter,  and  Lord  Byron  were  the  fa 
vorite  British  novelists  and  poets  whose  writings 
were  reprinted  in  America.  Among  the  American 
publications  advertised  by  booksellers,  were  sermons, 
geographies,  and  schoolbooks ;  but  rarely  any  pro- 


284          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

ductions  which  belonged  to  the  category  termed  by 
contemporaries  belles-lettres. 

The  slender  literary  product  of  the  United  States 
from  1815  to  1830  is  contained  in  magazines  rather 
than  in  books.  Prose  and  verse  which  could  never 
have  found  a  publisher  separately  appeared  in  peri 
odicals  of  every  description.  Most  of  these  were 
ephemera]  publications.  The  more  serious  reviews, 
like  the  American  Biblical  Repository,  the  Amer 
ican  Law  Journal,  and  the  religious  reviews,  had  a 
longer  life ;  but  the  lighter  magazines,  like  the 
Ladies'  Literary  Cabinet,  the  Young  Ladies'  Pa 
rental  Mentor,  and  the  Casket :  or  Flowers  of 
Literature,  Wit,  and  Sentiment,  rose  and  fell  on 
the  fickle  tide  of  public  taste.  Even  the  West  had 
its  magazines.  Lexington,  Kentucky,  which  disputed 
with  Cincinnati  the  proud  title,  "Athens  of  the 
West,"  published  the  Western  Revieiv,  one  number 
of  which  contained  a  review  of  Don  Juan  within 
six  weeks  after  the  poem  was  published  in  England. 

In  the  September  number  of  the  North  American 
Review,  in  1817,  appeared  an  original  poem  of  such 
merit  as  to  mark  an  era  in  the  history  of  American 
verse.  There  was  in  William  Cullen  Bryant's  Than- 
atopsis,  it  is  true,  no  such  youthful  exuberance  of 
feeling  as  the  first  stirrings  of  poetic  genius  in  a  new 
world  might  be  expected  to  exhibit.  The  sense  of 
refined  form  seemed  almost  un-American ;  yet  there 
are  lines  in  the  poem  which  suggest  the  primeval 
background  of  American  life  and  its  influence  upon 
the  American  mind.  In  1819  appeared  Washington 
Irving's  Sketch- Book  —  the  first  American  book 


THE  NATIONAL  AWAKENING        285 

which  was  widely  read  in  England ;  and  in  1821, 
Cooper  published  The  Spy,  which  was  the  first  to 
win  favor  on  the  Continent.  Both  Cooper  and  Irving 
were  more  or  less  conscious  imitators  of  English 
prose  writers,  the  one  of  Scott  and  the  other  of  Ad- 
dison  ;  and  they  lacked  consequently  that  originality 
which  critics  have  always  demanded  as  the  hall-mark 
of  a  genuinely  native  art.  It  is  easy  to  forget,  how 
ever,  that  the  Americans  were  not  a  primitive  peo 
ple.  They  were  folk  with  a  literary  inheritance,  of 
which  albeit  they  often  showed  little  knowledge.  It 
was  not  for  them  to  invent  new  forms,  but  to  press 
new  wine  into  old  bottles.  Of  Irving,  moreover,  it 
should  be  said  that  he  drew  freely  upon  a  vein  of 
delicious  humor,  as  in  his  Knickerbocker  History 
of  New  York,  which  may  be  truly  characterized  as 
American. 

The  annals  of  American  art  in  these  years  are 
even  more  bare.  Benjamin  West,  to  be  sure,  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania,  but  he  achieved  eminence  in 
England.  That  he  could  succeed  Sir  Joshua  Rey 
nolds  as  President  of  the  Royal  Academy  was  a  trib 
ute  to  his  fame,  but  equally  convincing  proof  that 
he  had  ceased  to  be  identified  with  the  land  of  his 
nativity.  Gilbert  Stuart  owed  much  to  Wrest,  but 
his  return  to  America  in  1792  saved  him  from  com 
plete  subservience  to  English  models.  As  a  portrait 
painter  he  developed  power  and  individuality.  Pos 
terity  may  well  be  grateful  that  the  portraits  of 
Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Madison  were  painted 
with  fidelity  to  nature  as  Stuart  saw  it,  rather  than 
in  the  grandiose  manner  of  W7est.  Two  other  names, 


286          UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

Malbone  and  Allston,  deserve  brief  mention.  The 
one  achieved  some  distinction  as  a  painter  of  minia 
tures  ;  the  other  is  remembered  both  as  artist  and 
man  of  letters  in  the  literary  circle  which  was  form 
ing  about  Boston.  The  name  of  Jonathan  Trumbull 
completes  the  list  of  American  artists.  What  David 
was  to  the  great  actors  in  the  revolutionary  drama 
in  France,  Trumbull  was  to  the  notable  characters 
of  the  American  Revolution.  In  his  conception  of 
his  themes  he  was  perhaps  the  most  genuinely  Amer 
ican  painter  of  his  time. 

In  the  pages  of  his  autobiography,  Trumbull  re 
counts  an  interview  with  his  father  which  may  take 
the  place  of  any  further  comment  on  the  dearth  of 
artistic  feeling  in  the  United  States.  The  young  man 
was  arguing  passionately  for  his  vocation.  The  father, 
a  typical  Yankee,  listened  with  commendable  pa 
tience,  and  complimented  the  lad  when  he  had  fin 
ished.  "  '  But,'  added  he,  4  you  must  give  me  leave 
to  say,  that  you  appear  to  have  overlooked,  or  for 
gotten,  one  very  important  point  in  your  case.' 
'Pray,  sir,'  I  rejoined,  '  what  was  that?'  'You  ap 
pear  to  forget,  sir,  that  Connecticut  is  not  Athens' ; 
and  with  this  pithy  remark,  he  bowed  and  withdrew, 
and  nevermore  opened  his  lips  upon  the  subject. 
How  often  have  those  few  impressive  words  recurred 
to  my  memory." 

The  names  of  Bryant,  Cooper,  and  Irving  are 
linked  with  the  city  of  New  York  which  enjoyed  for 
a  brief  time  that  primacy  in  the  world  of  American 
letters  which  it  was  fast  acquiring  in  commerce.  The 
center  of  literary  and  scholarly  activity  in  the  next 


THE   NATIONAL  AWAKENING        287 

generation  was  Boston,  where  the  New  England  re 
naissance  began.  In  this  revival  of  letters  Harvard 
College  had  a  notable  part.  In  1806,  John  Quiiicy 
Adams  was  appointed  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and 
gave  a  course  of  lectures  which  moulded  the  taste  of 
that  school  of  orators  to  which  Edward  Everett  be 
longed  —  a  school  of  oratory  which  found  its  models 
in  Demosthenes  and  Cicero.  Everett  became  Pro 
fessor  of  Greek  in  1815  ;  and  George  Ticknor,  Pro 
fessor  of  Belles-Lettres  in  1810.  Prescott  graduated 
in  1814,  Palfrey  in  1815,  and  George  Bancroft  in 
1817,  —  all  three  to  add  to  American  historiography 
works  of  enduring  excellence.  In  1817,  young  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson  entered  college. 

It  was  Boston,  however,  rather  than  Harvard  Col 
lege,  which  created  the  atmosphere  that  these  young 
scholars  —  all  from  Boston  families  —  breathed  :  for 
the  Athenaeum,  the  American  School  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  and  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society 
had  begun  to  exercise  an  increasing  influence  on  the 
younger  generation.  Harvard  College,  like  all  col 
leges  of  the  day,  was  hardly  more  than  a  species  of 
higher  academy  whither  boys  went  at  a  tender  age 
to  continue  their  study  of  the  classics  and  mathe 
matics,  and  incidentally  to  cultivate  rhetoric  and 
belles-lettres. 

The  liberation  of  the  American  mind  from  time- 
honored  traditions  and  conventions  appeared  mark 
edly  in  the  ecclesiastical  revolts  and  religious  revivals 
of  the  age.  Unitarianism  took  its  rise  quite  as  much 
in  protest  against  the  teaching  of  Calvinism,  that  man 
was  brought  into  the  world  hopelessly  depraved,  as 


288          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

against  the  orthodox  conception  of  Christ's  nature. 
The  definite  separation  of  Unitarianism  from  Con 
gregationalism  dates  from  1815  when  William  E. 
Charming  published  his  memorable  letter  to  the 
Reverend  Samuel  C.  Thacher.  The  writings  of 
Buckminster,  C  banning,  and  other  theological  liber 
als  have  a  distinct  place  in  the  annals  of  American 
intellectual  life.  Universalism  also  took  its  rise  at 
this  time  and  spread  with  remarkable  rapidity  under 
the  lead  of  Hosea  Ballou.  In  western  Pennsylvania 
and  Virginia,  the  Campbells,  father  and  son,  led  a 
departure  from  the  established  Presbyterian  order. 
The  Society  of  Friends  was  also  rent  by  the  teach 
ings  of  Elias  Hicks. 

Revivals  had  been  a  recurring  feature  of  New 
England  religious  life  since  the  latter  years  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  That  they  stimulated  many 
forms  of  religious  activity  appears  in  the  annals  of 
missionary  enterprises  at  home  and  abroad.  In  1810 
the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  and  in 
1814  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  were 
founded.  In  1812  four  young  missionaries  went  out 
to  India ;  arid  five  years  later  other  devoted  young 
men  began  their  labors  among  the  Cherokees  and 
Choctaws  of  the  Southwest.  There  is  something  at 
once  heroic  and  pathetic  in  the  humanitarian  zeal  of 
a  people,  whom  Europeans  still  regarded  with  disdain, 
to  carry  to  the  remote  ends  of  the  earth  a  Christian 
civilization  which  they  had  themselves  hardly  at 
tained.  But  an  incomprehensible  idealism  has  from 
first  to  last  been  interwoven  in  the  texture  of  Amer 
ican  character. 


THE  NATIONAL  AWAKENING       289 

After  the  cessation  of  European  wars  the  United 
States  stood  singularly  aloof  from  the  Old  World, 
yet  in  the  affairs  of  South  America  they  did  not 
cease  to  take  a  lively  interest.  The  successive  revo 
lutions  by  which  the  provinces  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata, 
Chili,  Peru,  Colombia,  Brazil,  and  Mexico  asserted 
their  independence  woke  a  thrill  in  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  for  they  thought  they  saw  the  events 
of  their  own  revolution  repeated  in  the  exploits  of 
San  Martin  and  Bolivar.  To  the  imagination  of 
Henry  Clay,  this  was  a  sublime  spectacle  —  "eight 
een  millions  of  people  struggling  to  burst  their  chains 
and  be  free."  He  would  have  had  the  United  States 
recognize  these  sister  republics  and  join  hands  with 
them  in  forming  an  American  system  independent  of 
Europe.  And  when  the  Administration  hesitated,  he 
exclaimed :  "  We  look  too  much  abroad.  Let  us 
break  these  commercial  and  political  fetters  ;  let  us 
no  longer  watch  the  nod  of  any  European  politician  ; 
let  us  become  real  and  true  Americans,  and  place 
ourselves  at  the  head  of  the  American  system." 

The  conception  of  an  American  system  did  not 
originate  in  the  ardent  mind  of  Henry  Clay.  It  was 
as  old  as  the  Union  itself.  Foreign  encroachment 
had  been  feared  from  the  very  birth  of  the  nation. 
"  You  are  afraid  of  being  made  the  tool  of  the  pow 
ers  of  Europe,"  said  Richard  Oswald  to  John  Adams 
while  peace  negotiations  were  pending  at  Paris. 
"  Indeed  I  am,"  rejoined  Adams.  "  What  powers  ?  " 
asked  Oswald.  "  All  of  them,"  said  Adams  ;  "  it  is 
obvious  that  all  the  powers  of  Europe  will  be  con 
tinually  manoeuvring  with  us  to  work  us  into  their 


290          UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

real  or  imaginary  balances  of  power.  .  .  .  But  I 
think  that  it  ought  to  be  our  rule  not  to  meddle." 
Washington's  refusal  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with 
France  and  his  firm  insistence  upon  neutrality  were 
inspired  by  this  same  fear.  Jefferson's  negotiations 
for  the  purchase  of  New  Orleans  were  motived  by 
the  fear  that  France,  once  in  possession  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi,  would  threaten  the  isolation  of  the 
United  States  and  drive  us  into  the  arms  of  Great 
Britain.  "•  Jefferson  is  an  American,"  Adet  once 
said,  with  rare  insight,  "  and  by  that  title,  it  is  im 
possible  for  him  to  be  sincerely  our  friend.  An 
American  is  the  bo?'?i  enemy  of  European  peoples" 
The  corollary  of  the  principle  of  non-intervention 
was  abstention  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
from  the  affairs  of  Europe.  Could  the  United  States, 
then,  recognize  the  colonies  of  Spain  as  independent 
republics  without  emerging  from  its  traditional  iso 
lation  ?  President  Monroe  would  have  been  glad  to 
recognize  the  South  American  republics  even  before 
they  had  demonstrated  their  ability  to  maintain  their 
independence  ;  but  his  cool-headed  Secretary  of  State 
prevailed  upon  him  to  await  further  evidence.  It  was 
not  until  1822,  indeed,  that  the  President  recom 
mended  to  Congress  the  establishment  of  missions  in 
the  new  republics  of  South  America.  Spain  pro 
tested  emphatically  against  this  action ;  but  Adams, 
now  sure  of  his  ground,  justified  the  action  of  the 
Administration  by  an  appeal  to  facts.  So  long  as 
Spain  was  attempting  to  reduce  the  colonies  by  arms, 
the  United  States  had  observed  "  the  most  impartial 
neutrality."  But  war  had  ceased,  and  the  United 


THE   NATIONAL  AWAKENING        291 

States  had  "  yielded  to  an  obligation  of  duty  of  the 
highest  order,  by  recognizing,  as  independent  states, 
nations  winch,  after  deliberately  asserting  their  right 
to  that  character,  had  maintained  and  established  it 
against  all  the  resistance  which  had  been  or  could  be 
brought  to  oppose  it." 

In  the  year  1823,  the  traditional  principles  of 
American  foreign  policy  were  put  to  a  severer  test. 
Soon  after  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  that  combina 
tion  of  the  great  powers  was  consummated  which 
contemporaries  usually  but  erroneously  styled  the 
Holy  Alliance.  Austria,  Prussia,  Russia,  and  Great 
Britain  covenanted  together  to  meet  at  fixed  periods 
to  consult  upon  their  common  interests  and  to  con 
sider  the  measures  "  most  salutary  for  the  repose  and 
prosperity  of  nations,  and  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
peace  of  Europe."  Three  years  later,  France  was 
admitted  to  the  councils  of  these  "  self-appointed 
keepers  of  the  world's  peace."  Innocent  enough  in 
its  public  professions,  this  association  of  the  great 
powers  was  converted  by  Metternich  of  Austria,  who 
had  acquired  a  remarkable  ascendency  over  the  mind 
of  his  own  sovereign  and  over  that  of  the  impres 
sionable  czar,  into  an  instrument  of  reaction  and 
repression,  whenever  and  wherever  the  specter  of 
revolution  raised  its  head.  Within  a  few  years  revo 
lutionary  uprisings  occurred  in  Italy  and  Spain. 
The  so-called  legitimate  sovereigns  were  driven  from 
their  thrones  and  constitutional  governments  were 
established.  In  successive  congresses  at  Troppau  and 
Laybach,  the  three  powers,  Austria,  Russia,  and 
Prussia,  resolved  to  suppress  these  revolutionary 


UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

movements.  An  Austrian  army  was  commissioned 
to  carry  out  this  policy  of  intervention,  as  it  was 
termed ;  and  the  King  of  the  Two  Sicilies  was  re 
stored  to  his  uneasy  throne.  Neither  Great  Britain 
nor  France  took  part  in  these  congresses.  It  now  re 
mained  to  chastise  the  revolutionists  of  Spain.  At 
the  Congress  of  Verona  in  1822,  the  representative 
of  Great  Britain  openly  protested  against  any  inter 
vention  in  Spain.  But  again  the  three  powers,  now 
joined  by  France,  resolved  to  restore  the  deposed 
Fernando  VII.  Early  in  the  following  year  a  French 
army  crossed  the  Pyrenees  and  entered  Madrid.  It 
was  commonly  believed  that  the  restoration  of  the 
monarchy  was  to  be  followed  by  a  reduction  of  the 
revolted  colonies  and  a  restoration  of  the  Spanish 
colonial  empire. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Canning,  wrho  had 
become  the  head  of  the  British  ministry,  protested 
against  the  policy  of  intervention  and  sought  for  ways 
and  means  to  make  the  protest  effective.  The  one 
power  whose  traditions  of  liberty  and  whose  interests 
in  this  particular  seemed  to  be  identical  with  those 
of  Great  Britain  was  the  United  States.  In  truth, 
their  interests  were  far  from  being  identical.  Two 
years  before,  in  a  conversation  with  the  British  min 
ister  at  Washington,  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  his 
most  uncompromising  manner,  had  challenged  the 
right  of  Great  Britain  to  the  valley  of  the  Columbia 
River  or  to  any  part  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  And  so 
recently  as  April  of  this  critical  year  1823,  Adams 
had  taken  alarm  at  the  appearance  of  a  British  naval 
force  off  the  coast  of  Cuba  and  had  warned  the  Gov- 


THE   NATIONAL  AWAKENING        293 

ernment  at  Madrid  that  "  the  transfer  of  Cuba  to 
Great  Britain  would  be  an  event  unpropitious  to  the 
interests  of  the  United  States."  At  the  same  time 
Adams  stated  his  conviction  that  within  half  a  cen 
tury  the  annexation  of  Cuba  to  the  United  States 
would  be  "  indispensable  to  the  continuance  of  the 
Union  itself."  Coupled  with  this  prophecy  was  the 
equally  frank  assurance  that  the  United  States  de 
sired  to  have  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  "  continue  at 
tached  to  Spain  " 
—  for  the  pres 
ent. 

It  was  in  mid 
summer  of  this 
year,  too,  that 
Adams  protested 
against  the  ukase 

O 

of  the  czar  which 
had  asserted  the 
claim  of  Russia 
to  the  Pacific  Coast  as  far  south  as  the  fifty-first 
degree,  and  to  a  maritime  jurisdiction  one  hundred 
Italian  miles  from  the  coast.  Adams  records  in  his 
diary  that  he  told  the  Russian  minister  "  that  we 
should  contest  the  right  of  Russia  to  any  territorial 
establishment  on  this  continent,  and  that  we  should 
assume  distinctly  the  principle  that  the  American 
continents  are  no  longer  subjects  for  arty  new  Euro 
pean  colonial  establishments."  The  time  had  come 
when  the  United  States  was  bound  to  take  more 
than  a  sentimental  interest  in  the  affairs  of  Spanish 
America.  The  disintegration  of  the  Spanish  colonial 


Russian  Claims  in  North  America 

SCALE  Of  BILES 


0        100     200     300    400 

Dotted  line  reprwmU  Ike  bonndf  17  fixed  by  til.  UkaM  at  1821 
Line  of  W'40'wM  flied  by  the  Treat?  of  1824  with  tire  United  SUM 


294          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

empire  not  only  invited  the  intervention  of  Enropean 
powers  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  new  republics, 
but  also  exposed  portions  of  the  North  American  con 
tinent  to  their  aggressions. 

On  several  occasions  Canning  conferred  with 
Richard  Rush,  the  minister  of  the  United  States 
resident  in  London,  to  ascertain  whether  his  Govern 
ment  would  join  Great  Britain  in  a  public  declara 
tion  against  any  "  forcible  enterprise  for  reducing  the 
colonies  to  subjugation  on  behalf  of  or  in  the  name 
of  Spain  ;  or  which  meditates  the  acquisition  of  any 
part  of  them  to  itself,  by  cession  or  by  conquest." 
England  had  no  designs  upon  the  distant  colonies 
of  Spain,  Canning  asseverated ;  at  the  same  time  it 
"could  not  see  any  part  of  them  transferred  to  any 
other  power  with  indifference."  Not  trusting  impli 
citly  in  Canning's  altruism,  Rush  wisely  suggested 
that  Great  Britain  should  first  recognize  the  South 
American  republics  as  a  preliminary  to  a  joint  dec 
laration.  To  this  Canning  would  not  commit  himself  ; 
and  Rush  would  not  assume  responsibility  for  a  pub 
lic  declaration  on  any  other  conditions. 

On  receiving  the  dispatches  from  Rush  recounting 
these  interesting  conferences,  President  Monroe  took 
counsel  with  the  two  Virginia  oracles,  Jefferson  and 
Madison.  Both  advised  him  to  meet  Canning's  over 
tures  and  to  make  common  cause  with  Great  Britain 
—  the  one  nation,  as  Jefferson  put  it,  which  could 
prevent  America  from  having  an  independent  system 
and  which  now  offered  "to  lead,  aid,  and  accompany 
us  in  it."  Monroe  was  disposed  to  follow  this  advice. 
He  not  only  drafted  a  message  to  Congress  upon 


THE   NATIONAL  AWAKENING        295 

these  lines,  but  he  went  further  and  urged  the  recog 
nition  of  Greek  independence  in  a  way  which  de 
parted  widely  from  the  traditional  aloofness  which 
earlier  Presidents  had  maintained  in  matters  of 
European  concern.  On  the  other  hand,  Adams  was 
decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  Canning's  invitation 
should  be  declined.  He  did  not  wish  the  country  to 
appear  "as  a  cock-boat  in  the  wake  of  the  British 
man-of-war."  Moreover,  Adams  was  considerably 
alarmed  at  the  reactionary  principles  which  the  Rus 
sian  ministry  had  avowed  in  a  communication  ad 
dressed  to  the  minister  at  Washington.  He  urged  the 
President  to  seize  the  occasion  to  make  an  explicit 
declaration  of  American  principles.  "  The  ground  I 
wish  to  take,"  said  he,  "  is  that  of  earnest  remon 
strance  against  the  interference  of  European  powers 
by  force  with  South  America,  but  to  disclaim  all  in 
terference  on  our  part  with  Europe ;  to  make  an 
American  cause  and  adhere  inflexibly  to  that." 

Yielding  to  his  contentious  Secretary  of  State, 
President  Monroe  redrafted  his  message  to  Congress. 
In  its  final  form,  December  2,  1823,  this  famous  state 
paper  contained  the  essential  principles  of  what  has 
come  to  be  known  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  It  was 
asserted  uas  a  general  principle  in  which  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  United  States  are  involved  that 
the  American  continents,  by  the  free  and  independ 
ent  condition  which  they  have  assumed  and  maintain, 
are  henceforth  not  to  be  considered  as  subjects  for 
future  colonization  by  any  European  powers."  The 
message  expressly  disclaimed  any  purpose  to  inter 
fere  in  European  politics ;  but  respecting  the  affairs 


296          UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

of  the  Western  hemisphere  a  direct  and  immediate 
interest  was  frankly  avowed.  "  The  political  system 
of  the  allied  powers  is  essentially  different  in  this 
respect  from  that  of  America."  "  We  should  con 
sider  any  attempt  on  their  part  to  extend  their  sys 
tem  to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous 
to  our  peace  and  safety.  With  the  existing  colonies 
or  dependencies  of  any  European  power  we  have  not 
interfered  and  shall  not  interfere.  But  with  the  Gov 
ernments  who  have  declared  their  independence  and 
maintained  it,  and  whose  independence  we  have,  on 
great  consideration  and  on  just  principles,  acknowl 
edged,  we  could  not  view  any  interposition  for  the 
purpose  of  oppressing  them,  or  controlling  in  any 
manner  their  destiny,  by  any  European  power  in  any 
other  light  than  as  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly 
disposition  toward  the  United  States." 

The  immediate  effects  of  the  message  are  not  easily 
traced.  It  is  not  clear,  even,  that  the  favorable  treaty 
made  with  Russia  in  the  following  year  was  the  out 
come  of  what  Canning  somewhat  contemptuously 
styled  "the  new  Doctrine  of  the  President."  Russia, 
it  is  true,  agreed  to  waive  her  claims  below  fifty-four 
degrees  forty  minutes  and  to  exclusive  jurisdiction  in 
Bering  Sea;  but  the  conflicting  claims  of  England  in 
the  Northwest  remained,  and  Canning  predicted  that 
England  would  "  have  a  squabble  with  the  Yankees 
yet  in  and  about  those  regions." 

Later  generations  have  read  strange  meanings  into 
the  message  of  President  Monroe.  Even  contempo 
raries  were  not  clear  as  to  its  import.  Interpreted  in 
the  light  of  its  origin,  it  was  a  candid  announcement 


THE  NATIONAL  AWAKENING        297 

that  the  United  States  did  not  purpose  to  meddle  in 
the  affairs  of  European  states  or  of  their  existing 
dependencies,  and  a  protest  against  the  increase  of 
power  of  European  states  in  America  either  by  inter 
vention  or  by  new  colonization. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

In  the  concluding  volume  of  Henry  Adams's  History  of  the 
United  States  are  excellent  chapters  on  American  literature,  art, 
and  religious  thought.  W.  B.  Cairns's  On  the  Development  of  Amer 
ican  Literature  from  1815  to  1833  (1898)  contains  much  interesting 
information  about  periodicals.  Barrett  Wendell's  A  Literary  His 
tory  of  America  (1900)  is  full  of  pungent  comment  on  early  men  of 
letters.  C.  C.  Caffin,  The  Story  of  American  Painting  (1907),  and 
H.  T.  Tuckerman,  Artist-Life,  or  Sketches  of  American  Artists 
(1847),  record  the  small  achievements  of  American  art.  John 
Trumbull's  Autobiography,  Reminiscences,  and  Letters,  from  1756 
to  1841  (1841),  is  a  book  of  great  interest.  E.  G.  Dexter's  A  His 
tory  of  Education  in  the  United  States  (1904)  is  an  excellent  manual. 
The  Unitarian  Movement  can  be  best  followed  in  J.  W.  Chad- 
wick's  William  Ellery  Channing  (1903).  The  history  of  the  various 
denominations  may  be  found  in  volumes  of  the  American  Church 
History  Series.  The  genesis  of  Monroe's  message  is  described  by 
F.  J.  Turner,  The  Rise  of  the  New  West  (in  The  American  Nation, 
vol.  14,  1906),  and  F.  E.  Chadwick,  The  Relations  of  the  United 
States  and  Spain  (1909).  Both  of  these  accounts  are  based  on 
W.  C.  Ford,  John  Quincy  Adams:  His  Connection  urith  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  (in  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  Proceedings,  1902)  - 
An  excellent  essay  is  that  by  W.  F.  Reddaway,  The  Monroe 
Doctrine  (2d.  ed.,  1905). 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE    NEW    DEMOCRACY 

BY  the  year  1824,  the  West  had  become  a  section 
to  be  reckoned  with  by  those  who  were  calculating 
their  chances  in  the  presidential  race.  Since  the  war 
six  Western  States  had  been  admitted  into  the  Union. 
The  population  west  of  the  Alleghanies  had  increased 
by  nearly  a  million  and  a  half  within  a  decade.  The 
relative  importance  of  this  new  section  appears  in 
the  census  returns.  In  1790,  less  than  six  per  cent 
of  the  total  population  lived  west  of  the  Alleghanies  ; 
in  1820,  nearly  thirty-two  per  cent  were  domiciled 
in  this  vast  region.  In  the  National  Legislature  the 
West  had  acquired  notable  weight.  By  the  appor 
tionment  of  1822,  it  had  forty-seven  out  of  two  hun, 
dred  and  thirteen  members  of  the  House  ;  in  the 
Senate,  eighteen  out  of  forty-eight.  But  these  figures 
do  not  tell  the  whole  tale.  As  Professor  Turner  has 
well  said,  rightly  to  estimate  the  weight  of  Western 
population  we  must  add  the  people  of  western  New 
York  and  of  the  interior  counties  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  of  the  trans- Alleghany  counties  of  Virginia,  as 
well  as  the  people  of  the  back-country  of  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  North  Carolina,  and 
Georgia.  "  All  of  these  regions  were  to  be  influenced 
by  the  ideals  of  democratic  rule  which  were  spring 
ing  up  in  the  Mississippi  Valley." 

Economic  conditions  bred  a  democratic  society  in 


1820 

SCALE  OF  MILES 
9          100       800 300 

fc^iv^  2  to  18  to  sq.  mile 
H  18  to  over  90 


Longitude  \V«t     85°         from   Grwnwlch 


300          UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

the  West.  What  Gallatin  said  of  Pennsylvania  was 
true  of  the  greater  West :  "  An  equal  distribution 
of  property  made  every  individual  independent  and 
produced  a  true  and  real  equality."  The  basal  char 
acteristic  of  the  West  was  individual  ownership  of 
land ;  and  the  reaction  of  the  sense  of  proprietorship 
upon  individual  character  was  the  most  significant 
fact  in  the  history  of  its  population.  Intense  indi 
vidualism  and  rugged  self-reliance  were  the  salient 
characteristics  of  the  Westerner.  So  far  as  he  re 
flected  upon  his  social  relations,  he  believed  in  com 
plete  social  equality.  In  numberless  instances  the 
pioneer  had  migrated  to  escape  the  social  inequali 
ties  and  depressing  conventions  of  older  communi 
ties  ;  and  he  was  not  minded  to  encourage  the  repro 
duction  of  these  conditions  in  his  new  home.  "America, 
then,  exhibits  in  her  social  state  an  extraordinary 
phenomenon,"  wrote  De  Tocqueville  in  his  notable 
study  of  American  democracy.  "  Men  are  there  seen 
on  a  greater  equality  in  point  of  fortune  and  intellect, 
or,  in  other  words,  more  equal  in  their  strength,  than 
in  any  other  country  of  the  world,  or  in  any  age  of 
which  history  has  preserved  the  remembrance." 

Life  on  the  frontier,  where  a  man  wrestled  with 
the  primitive  forces  of  Nature  and  conquered  by  dint 
of  his  indomitable  will,  made  the  Westerner  perhaps 
overconfident  in  his  ability  to  deal  with  all  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  human  achievement  and  withal  some 
what  impatient  under  the  restraints  imposed  by  the 
more  complicated  social  order  in  the  older  communi 
ties  to  the  East.  The  sweep  of  the  prairies  and  the 
wide  horizon  lines  of  the  Middle  West  may  have 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY  301 

exercised  a  subtle  influence  upon  temperament.  At 
all  events,  the  Westerner  was  buoyant  and  optimis 
tic,  taking  large  views  of  national  destiny  and  of  the 
possibilities  of  human  achievement  in  a  democracy. 

There  was  danger,  indeed,  that  in  cutting  loose 
from  the  irritating  restraints  of  the  older  communi 
ties,  the  people  of  the  West  would  sacrifice  much  of 
the  grace  and  many  of  the  intellectual  and  spiritual 
refinements  of  an  older  civilization.  "  In  this  part  of 
the  American  continent,"  observes  De  Tocqueville, 
"  population  has  escaped  the  influence  not  only  of 
great  names  and  great  wealth,  but  even  of  the  nat 
ural  aristocracy  of  knowledge  and  virtue."  It  seemed 
to  two  young  New  Englanders  who  traversed  the  vast 
region  from  the  Western  Reserve  to  New  Orleans  in 
1813,  in  the  interests  of  missionary  societies,  that 
the  people  were  wrapped  in  spiritual  darkness,  "be 
ing  ignorant,  often  vicious,  and  utterly  destitute  of 
Bibles  and  religious  literature."  The  General  Bible 
Society  of  the  United  States  was  founded  in  1816  to 
dispel  this  irreligious  gloom.  Within  five  years  this 
organization  and  its  numerous  auxiliaries  had  distrib 
uted  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  Bibles  and 
Testaments  through  the  new  States. 

Yet  the  irreligion  of  the  West  was  painted  darker 
than  it  really  was.  Methodism  had  struck  root  where 
other  denominations  could  not  thrive.  Its  methods 
and  organization,  indeed,  were  peculiarly  adapted  to 
a  people  which  could  not  support  a  settled  pastor. 
"  A  sect,  therefore,  which  marked  out  the  region  into 
circuits,  put  a  rider  on  each  and  bade  him  cover  it 
once  a  month,  preaching  here  to-day  and  there  to- 


302          UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

morrow,  but  returning  at  regular  intervals  to  each 
community,  provided  the  largest  amount  of  religious 
teaching  and  preaching  at  the  least  expense."  The 
Baptists,  too,  secured  a  footing  in  the  new  commu 
nities  and  labored  effectively  in  creating  religious 
ties  between  the  old  and  the  new  sections  of  the 
country.  In  religion  as  in  politics  the  people  of  the 
West  were  responsive  to  emotional  appeals.  The  cir 
cuit  rider,  with  his  intense  conviction  of  sin  and  his 
equally  strong  conviction  of  salvation  through  repent 
ance,  wrought  great  crowds  in  camp  meetings  into 
ecstasies  of  religious  excitement.  Odd  religious  sects 
and  strange  "  isms  "  were  to  be  found  in  the  back- 
country.  At  New  Harmony  on  the  Wabash  River 
were  the  Rappites,  a  sect  of  German  peasants  who 
came  first  to  Pennsylvania  under  their  leader  George 
Rapp,  and  who  afterward  returned  thither.  At  Zoar 
in  Ohio  was  the  Separatist  community  led  by  Joseph 
Baumeler.  Shaker  societies  were  formed  at  many 
places ;  and  Mormonism  was  just  beginning  its 
strange  history  through  the  revelations  of  Joseph 
Smith  in  western  New  York. 

The  intellectual  horizon  of  the  Western  world  was 
necessarily  limited.  Absorbed  in  the  stern  struggle 
for  existence,  the  people  had  no  leisure  and  no  heart 
to  enjoy  the  finer  aspects  of  life.  Education  was  a 
luxury  which  only  the  prosperous  might  possess. 
The  purpose  to  make  elementary  education  a  public 
charge  developed  tardily.  Outside  of  New  England, 
indeed,  a  public  school  system  did  not  exist.  Through 
out  the  older  portions  of  the  West  the  traveler  might 
find  academies  and  so-called  colleges,  but  none  sup- 


THE   NEW  DEMOCRACY  303 

ported  at  public  expense.  The  State  of  Indiana,  it 
is  true,  entered  the  Union  with  a  constitution  which 
made  it  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  provide,  as 
soon  as  circumstances  permitted,  "  for  a  general  sys 
tem  of  education,  ascending  in  a  regular  gradation 
from  township  schools  to  a  State  University,  wherein 
tuition  shall  be  gratis,  and  equally  open  to  all."  But 
years  passed  before  circumstances  permitted  the  real 
ization  of  this  ideal.  Meantime,  the  prosperous 
planters  of  the  Southwest  employed  tutors  for  their 
children,  and  the  well-to-do  farmers  of  the  North 
west  paid  tuition  for  their  boys  at  academies.  But 
young  Abraham  Lincoln  had  to  teach  himself  Euclid 
and  to  cipher  on  the  back  of  a  wooden  shovel,  by 
the  flickering  embers  of  a  log-cabin  fire. 

The  new  Commonwealths  entered  the  Union  as 
self-confessed  democracies.  In  all  the  States  formed 
after  the  War  of  1812,  with  one  exception,  property 
qualifications  such  as  prevailed  in  the  older  States 
were  swept  away  and  the  right  to  vote  was  accorded 
to  every  adult  white  male.  In  Mississippi  alone  there 
was  the  additional  qualification  that  a  voter  should 
be  enrolled  in  the  militia  or  have  paid  a  state  or 
county  tax.  Everywhere,  too,  the  principle  was  ac 
cepted  that  representation  should  be  based  upon 
population  and  not  upon  property.  The  men  who 
framed  these  new  constitutions  believed  that  they 
were  establishing  the  rule  of  the  people.  It  was,  in 
deed,  unthinkable  that,  believing  themselves  equal  in 
all  other  respects,  they  should  not  accept  the  prin 
ciple  of  political  equality  and  popular  sovereignty. 

There  is  evidence  in  these  new  constitutions,  how- 


304          UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

ever,  that  the  people  placed  less  reliance  in  their  legis 
lative  bodies  than  did  the  people  of  the  Revolutionary 
era.  Instead  of  general  grants  of  legislative  power, 
there  are  specific  prohibitions  and  positive  injunc 
tions.  Important  limitations  are  imposed  upon  the 
form  and  mode  of  legislation.  It  is  clear,  too,  that 
fear  of  an  over-strong  executive  had  given  way  to  a 
belief  in  the  necessity  of  having  a  stronger  counter 
vailing  influence,  capable  of  checking  the  legislative. 
Everywhere  the  governor  was  made  elective  directly 
by  the  people  and  given  the  veto  power.  The  con 
viction  was  often  expressed  in  constitutional  conven 
tions  that  the  governor  was  peculiarly  the  representa 
tive  of  the  people,  a  popular  tribune  who  would  protect 
them  against  the  indiscretions  of  their  legislative 
representatives.  The  extension  of  the  elective  prin 
ciple  to  all  important  offices  was  accompanied  also  by 
a  general  conviction  that  life  tenure  of  office  is  un 
democratic.  "  Rotation  in  office,"  said  Andrew  Jack 
son,  voicing  a  popular  feeling,  "  is  a  cardinal  prin 
ciple  of  democracy." 

The  spirit  of  Western  democracy  leavened  also  the 
older  States.  The  people  of  Maine,  breaking  away 
from  Massachusetts  and  her  ancient  ideals,  boldly 
declared  for  manhood  suffrage  in  their  new  constitu 
tion.  Connecticut  adopted  a  constitution  in  1818  to 
replace  the  old  charter,  and  dissolved  the  old  union 
of  Church  and  State  by  declaring  that  no  preference 
should  be  given  by  law  to  any  Christian  sect  or  mode 
of  worship.  At  the  same  time  Connecticut  extended 
the  suffrage  to  all  who  served  in  the  militia  or  paid 
a  state  tax.  New  York  in  the  constitution  of  1821 


THE   NEW  DEMOCRACY  305 

and  Massachusetts  by  a  constitutional  amendment  in 
the  same  year  abandoned  the  old  property  qualifica 
tions  for  voting. 

In  both  Massachusetts  and  New  York,  conserva 
tive  men  like  Chancellor  Kent  and  Daniel  Webster 
frankly  avowed  their  apprehensions  of  universal  suf 
frage.  u  The  tendency  of  universal  suffrage,"  said 
Kent  in  the  New  York  convention,  "is  to  jeopardize 
the  rights  of  property,  and  the  principles  of  liberty. " 
He  held  society  to  be  an  association  for  the  protec 
tion  of  property  as  well  as  of  life,  "  and  the  individ 
ual  who  contributes  only  one  cent  to  the  common 
stock  ought  not  to  have  the  same  power  and  influence 
in  directing  the  property  concerns  of  the  partnership 
as  he  who  contributes  his  thousands." 

The  democratic  movement  affected  not  only  the 
formal  organization  of  State  Governments,  but  also 
the  machinery  and  methods  of  political  parties.  In 
the  Northern  States  there  was  increasing  dissatisfac 
tion  with  the  practice  of  nominating  candidates  for 
office  by  legislative  caucus.  The  rank  and  file  of  the 
parties  were  no  longer  willing  to  submit  blindly  to 
the  dictation  of  leaders.  In  deference  to  party  voters 
in  districts  which  were  not  represented  by  men  of 
their  political  faith,  the  leaders  of  the  respective  par 
ties  now  found  it  expedient  to  summon  special  dele 
gates  to  their  party  conclaves,  in  order  to  give  a  more 
truly  representative  character  to  the  organization  of 
party.  The  legislative  caucus,  in  short,  gave  way  to 
the  mixed  caucus. 

But  the  old  vice  remained.  The  selection  of  candi 
dates  for  office  was  still  made  by  those  who  had  no 


States  Admitted  to  the  Union 
between  1812  and  1821 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


0          100        200        300 

States  admitted  between  1790  and  1812  are  shaded 
thus 


Longitude    West        86*         from    '"•••"» i.-li 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY  307 

mandate  to  act  for  the  party  except  in  a  legislative 
capacity.  If  the  voters  of  the  party  were  in  truth  the 
source  of  authority  within  the  party,  then  a  means 
had  to  be  devised  of  ascertaining  their  will.  The 
democratic  principle,  in  short,  had  to  be  applied  to 
party.  In  response  to  this  feeling,  mass  meetings 
and  irregular  conventions  were  held ;  but  these  meth 
ods  of  securing  an  expression  of  party  opinion  were 
only  transitional.  Indeed,  so  long  as  the  means  of 
communication  were  defective,  popular  gatherings 
were  necessarily  poorly  attended.  The  next  step  in 
the  democratization  of  party  organization  could  only 
be  taken  when  the  barriers  of  space  were  overcome 
by  the  application  of  the  steam  engine  to  transpor 
tation.  The  nominating  delegate  convention  waited 
on  the  development  of  transportation. 

Much  the  same  popular  hostility  was  directed 
against  the  congressional  caucus.  Candidates  for  the 
presidential  nomination  were  not  blind  to  this  move 
ment,  and  for  the  most  part  they  sought  other  means 
of  promoting  their  chances.  Monroe  had  hardly  en 
tered  upon  his  second  term  when  state  legislative 
caucuses  began  to  nominate  favorite  sons.  In  1821, 
the  legislature  of  South  Carolina  put  forward  the 
name  of  William  Lowndes, and  upon  his  death  named 
John  C.  Calhoun  as  its  candidate  for  the  Presidency. 
In  1822,  the  legislature  of  Tennessee  presented  the 
name  of  Andrew  Jackson,  u  the  soldier,  the  states 
man,  the  honest  man,"  to  the  consideration  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  In  the  same  year  Re 
publican  members  of  the  legislature  of  Kentucky 
recommended  Henry  Clay  "  as  a  suitable  person  to 


308          UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

succeed  James  Monroe  as  President."  A  "joint 
meeting  of  the  Republican  members  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  legislature  and  of  Republican  delegates 
from  the  various  towns  of  the  Commonwealth  not 
represented  in  the  legislature "  nominated  John 
Quincy  Adams  for  the  Presidency  in  January,  1823. 
And  finally,  illustrative  of  the  varied  methods  in  use 
and  of  the  strange  vicissitudes  of  politics  at  this 
time,  a  public  gathering  or  mass  meeting  at  Freder- 
icksburg,  Virginia, in  March,  1824, nominated  Adams 
for  President  and  Jackson  for  Vice-President. 

A  series  of  resolutions  passed  by  the  legislature 
of  Tennessee  in  1823  called  attention  in  no  uncertain 
language  to  the  shortcomings  of  the  congressional 
caucus  and  called  for  its  overthrow.  A  canvass  of 
the  members  of  Congress  showed  that  one  hundred 
and  eighty-one  out  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  be 
lieved  a  caucus  inexpedient  at  this  time.  Neverthe 
less,  the  minority,  acting  in  Crawford's  interest,  took 
their  courage  in  both  hands  and  held  a  caucus  on 
February  14,  1824.  Sixty-four  out  of  sixty-eight 
votes  were  cast  for  William  H.  Crawford,  who  thus 
became  by  all  precedents  the  "  regular "  candidate 
of  the  Republican  party.  This  nomination  and  the 
indorsement  of  Jackson  by  the  Republicans  of  Penn 
sylvania  spoiled  Calhoun's  chances.  In  the  spring 
of  1824,  he  allied  himself  with  the  Jackson  faction 
by  accepting  the  nomination  for  Vice-President  at 
the  hands  of  a  state  nominating  convention  at  Har- 
risburg,  which  had  put  Jackson  at  the  head  of  the 
ticket. 

Such  issues  as  were  discoverable  in  the  presiden- 


THE   NEW  DEMOCRACY  309 

tial  contest  of  1824  were  formulated  in  the  debates 
in  Congress  during  the  early  part  of  the  year.  As 
the  country  recovered  from  financial  depression,  the 
question  of  internal  improvements  again  forged  to 
the  front.  In  1822,  a  hill  to  authorize  the  collection 
of  tolls  on  the  Cumberland  Road  had  been  vetoed  by 
the  President.  In  an  elaborate  essay  Monroe  set  forth 
his  views  on  the  constitutional  aspects  of  a  policy  of 
internal  improvements.  Congress  might  appropriate 
money,  he  admitted,  but  it  might  not  undertake  the 
actual  construction  of  national  works  nor  assume  juris 
diction  over  them.  For  the  moment  the  drift  toward 
a  larger  participation  of  the  National  Government 
in  internal  improvements  was  stayed.  Two  years  later, 
however,  Congress  authorized  the  President  to  insti 
tute  surveys  for  such  roads  and  canals  as  he  believed 
to  be  needed  for  commerce  and  military  defense.  The 
vote  on  this  bill  shows  that  the  source  of  opposition 
to  internal  improvements  was  chiefly  in  the  North 
east,  in  Virginia,  and  in  the  Carolinas.  The  West 
and  Southwest,  with  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and 
New  Jersey,  were  a  unit  in  support  of  the  general 
survey. 

No  one  pleaded  more  eloquently  for  a  larger  con 
ception  of  the  functions  of  the  National  Government 
than  Clay.  No  one  voiced  the  aspirations  of  his  sec 
tion  more  faithfully.  He  called  the  attention  of  his 
hearers  to  provisions  made  for  coast  surveys  and 
lighthouses  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  and  deplored 
the  neglect  of  the  great  interior  of  the  country.  "  A 
new  world  has  come  into  being  since  the  Constitu 
tion  was  adopted,"  he  exclaimed.  "  Are  the  narrow, 


310          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

limited  necessities  of  the  old  thirteen  States,  of,  in 
deed,  parts  only  of  the  old  thirteen  States  as  they 
existed  at  the  formation  of  the  present  Constitution, 
forever  to  remain  the  rule  of  its  interpretation  ?  "  Of 
the  other  presidential  candidates,  Jackson  voted  in 
the  Senate  for  the  general  survey  bill ;  and  Adams  left 
no  doubt  in  the  public  mind  that  he  did  not  reflect 
the  narrow  views  of  his  section  on  this  issue.  Craw 
ford  felt  the  constitutional  scruples  which  were  every 
where  being  voiced  in  the  South,  and  followed  the 
old  expedient  of  advocating  a  constitutional  amend 
ment  to  sanction  national  internal  improvements. 

The  Tariff  Act  of  1824  also  entered  somewhat 
into  the  presidential  campaign.  The  failure  of  the 
protectionists  to  secure  a  higher  tariff  in  1820  had 
been  followed  by  other  efforts  to  secure  congres 
sional  action ;  but  none,  succeeded  until  Clay  was 
again  elected  Speaker  of  the  House  and  thrust  the 
matter  into  the  foreground  of  discussion.  Clay  dwelt 
eloquently  upon  the  loss  of  the  foreign  market  for 
agricultural  products  and  upon  the  consequent  wide 
spread  distress.  To  his  mind  the  remedy  was  the 
establishment  of  an  American  market  by  fostering 
manufactures.  That  such  a  policy  would  involve  a 
clash  of  sectional  interests,  he  did  not  deny ;  but  he 
believed  that  "reconciliation  by  mutual  concessions" 
could  be  effected  and  a  genuine  "American  system" 
be  brought  into  existence. 

The  tariff  bill  presented  in  1824  was  avowedly  a 
protective  measure.  Among  lesser  changes,  increased 
duties  were  proposed  on  iron,  lead,  wool,  hemp,  cot 
ton  bagging,  and  cotton  and  woolen  goods..  At  once 


•fc 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY  311 

the  clash  of  sectional  interests  began.  New  England 
shippers  protested  against  the  duty  on  hemp,  which 
they  needed  for  cordage;  and  Southern  planters 
made  common  cause  with  them  on  this  item,  be 
cause  the  cheap  bagging  which  they  used  for  baling 
their  cotton  was  made  of  coarse  hemp.  For  the  same 
reason  the  maritime  sections  of  New  England  op 
posed  the  duty  on  iron.  For  precisely  opposite  rea 
sons,  Kentucky  clamored  for  the  protection  of  her 
hemp-growers,  and  Pennsylvania,  for  the  protection 
of  her  iron-workers.  It  was  well  understood  that  the 
cotton  industry  was  established  and  needed  no  pro 
tection  ;  nevertheless,  the  minimum  duty  on  cotton 
fabrics  was  raised.  The  increased  duty  on  woolens, 
however,  was  offset  by  an  increased  duty  on  raw 
wool,  so  that  the  woolen  manufacturers  profited  little 
by  the  change  of  rate.  A  proposal  to  apply  to  woolens 
the  minimum  principle  which  had  been  extended  to 
cottons  in  1816  was  defeated  by  the  opposition  of 
the  South.  Any  increase  in  the  cost  of  cheap  woolen 
goods  was  bound  to  enhance  the  cost  of  clothing  the 
slaves.  On  the  other  hand,  the  representatives  of  the 
great  grain-growing  and  farming  States  of  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  together  with  the 
States  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  were  almost  unanimously 
in  favor  of  the  proposed  bill.  When  the  bill  came  to 
a  vote  in  the  House  on  April  16,  1824,  only  nine  of 
the  combined  ninety-five  votes  of  these  sections  were 
cast  in  the  negative.  Equally  emphatic  was  the  pro 
test  of  the  South  and  Southwest :  only  six  out  of 
seventy-six  Representatives  favored  the  bill.  New 
England  by  its  divided  vote  revealed  the  internal  con- 


312          UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

flict  between  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  inter 
ests.  The  bill  passed  both  houses  of  Congress  by  small 
majorities  and  received  the  signature  of  the  Presi 
dent. 

Of  the  presidential  candidates,  only  one  spoke  with 
uncertain  sound  on  the  tariff  issue.  Clay  was  the  out 
spoken  advocate  of  a  far-reaching  American  system  ; 
Adams  thought  the  tariff  of  1824  a  fair  compromise  ; 
Jackson,  properly  coached  by  his  intimates,  put  him 
self  on  record  as  a  supporter  of  a  protective  policy  to 
create  a  home  market ;  only  Crawford,  representa 
tive  of  the  peculiar  interests  of  the  South  and  can 
didate  for  Northern  support,  felt  the  impossibility 
of  harmonizing  the  conflicting  interests  of  his  follow 
ers  by  a  clear-cut  and  explicit  utterance  on  the  tariff. 

With  so  many  candidates  in  the  field,  it  was  diffi 
cult  to  forecast  the  outcome  of  the  presidential  cam 
paign.  Even  if  there  had  been  a  pronounced  popular 
drift  toward  any  candidate,  the  result  would  have  re 
mained  in  doubt  until  the  six  States  which  still  gave 
the  choice  of  electors  to  their  legislatures  had  com 
pleted  the  complicated  electoral  process.  There  was 
a  strong  likelihood,  however,  that  the  election  would 
go  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  As  the  choice 
would  then  be  confined  to  the  three  candidates  hav 
ing  the  highest  vote,  there  was  not  a  little  bargain 
ing  in  the  States  where  the  legislatures  chose  the 
electors.  The  completed  returns  gave  Jackson  99 
electoral  votes  ;  Adams,  84  ;  Crawford,  41 ;  and  Clay, 
37.  Calhoun  was  elected  Vice-President  by  more  than 
two  thirds  of  the  electoral  vote.  The  House,  there 
fore,  as  wiseacres  had  foretold,  was  called  upon  for 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY  313 

the  second  time  to  decide  a  contested  presidential 
election. 

The  position  of  Clay  was  one  of  unenviable  dis 
tinction  and  power.  He  could  not  be  elected  Presi 
dent,  but  he  could,  it  was  believed,  determine  which 
of  his  rivals  should  have  the  coveted  office.  His  own 
State  favored  Jackson  as  a  second  choice  ;  but  Clay 
wrote  to  a  friend  that  he  could  not  consider  the 
killing  of  twenty-five  hundred  Englishmen  at  New  Or 
leans  proved  the  fitness  of  Jackson  for  the  chief  civil 
magistracy.  Crawford  was  personally  less  objection 
able  to  Clay ;  but  he  had  suffered  a  paralytic  stroke 
and  his  health  was  precarious.  Besides,  Crawford  had 
opposed  some  of  the  policies  which  Clay  had  most  at 
heart.  For  years  Clay  had  been  a  bitter  opponent 
of  Adams ;  yet  after  all  was  said,  he  was  bound  to 
admit  that  his  interests  would  be  best  served  by  an 
alliance  with  this  stiff-necked  New  Euglander.  At 
an  early  date,  therefore,  he  determined  to  throw  his 
support  to  Adams. 

For  weeks  the  capital  was  enveloped  in  an  atmos 
phere  of  intrigue.  Clay  was  courted  by  all  factions. 
The  possibility  of  securing  his  support  was  a  stand 
ing  temptation  to  wire-pullers.  Even  Adams  wrote  in 
his  diary,  "  Incedo  super  ignes  "  (I  walk  over  fires). 
When  Clay  announced  positively,  on  January  24, 
that  he  and  his  friends  would  support  Adams,  a 
storm  of  passionate  denunciation  broke  upon  him. 
An  anonymous  letter  appeared  in  a  Philadelphia  news 
paper,  charging  that  friends  of  Adams  had  offered 
Clay  the  Secretaryship  of  State  in  return  for  his  sup 
port,  and  that  friends  of  Clay  had  reported  the  offer 


314          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

to  friends  of  Jackson,  with  the  intimation  that  Clay 
would  support  the  general  on  similar  terms.  When 
the  friends  of  Jackson  spurned  these  overtures,  Clay 
sold  out  to  Adams.  With  quite  unnecessary  heat 
Clay  branded  the  author  of  this  letter  as  "  a  base 
and  infamous  calumniator,  a  dastard,  and  a  liar." 
His  first  instinct  was  to  challenge  the  author  who 
ever  he  might  be ;  but  when  Representative  George 
Kremer,  an  odd  character  who  was  chiefly  conspicu 
ous  by  reason  of  the  leopard-skin  coat  which  he  wore 
avowed  himself  the  writer  of  the  offensive  letter,  Clay 
wisely  concluded  not  to  make  himself  ridiculous  by 
an  affair  of  honor  with  this  Gil  Bias.  He  demanded 
a  congressional  investigation  instead. 

While  this  investigation  of  the  alleged  bargain 
between  Adams  and  Clay  was  pending,  the  House 
proceeded  to  the  election  of  a  President.  On  the 
first  ballot,  Adams  received  the  votes  of  thirteen 
States,  while  Jackson  was  the  choice  of  seven  States, 
and  Crawford  of  four.  New  England,  New  York, 
Louisiana,  Maryland,  and  the  States  of  the  North 
west,  except  Indiana,  supported  Adams.  Combined 
with  these  were  now  Missouri  and  Kentucky,  which 
had  voted  for  Clay.  Jackson  received  the  votes  of 
the  Southwest,  together  with  those  of  Pennsylvania, 
New  Jersey,  Indiana,  and  South  Carolina.  Crawford 
was  supported  by  Georgia,  North  Carolina,  Virginia, 
and  Delaware.  Two  days  later  the  President-elect 
announced  that  he  had  invited  Henry  Clay  to  be  his 
Secretary  of  State.  After  some  hesitation,  Clay  ac 
cepted  the  post. 

The  cry  of  corruption  is  a  recurrent  note  in  the 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY  315 

history  of  democracies.  The  American  democracy  is 
no  exception.  With  most  of  the  charges  of  corruption, 
the  historian  has  little  concern  ;  but  the  bargain  and 
corruption  cry  of  1825  has  a  historical  significance. 
The  falsity  of  the  charge  against  Clay  has  been 
proved  as  nearly  as  a  negative  can  be.  Adams  may 
not  have  been  above  the  uncongenial  task  of  solicit 
ing  votes,  but  he  kept  safely  within  the  moral  domain 
which  his  conscience  marked  out.  The  motive  which 
governed  his  appointment  of  Clay  as  Secretary  of 
State  is  stated  frankly  in  a  letter  to  Monroe,  two 
days  after  the  election  by  the  House.  He  considered 
the  appointment  "  due  to  his  talents  and  services  to 
the  western  section  of  the  Union,  whence  he  comes, 
and  to  the  confidence  in  me  manifested  by  their 
delegations."  Upon  one  individual  these  considera 
tions  made  no  impression  :  Andrew  Jackson  left  the 
capital  with  wrath  in  his  soul.  He  felt  that  he  had 
been  defrauded  by  a  corrupt  bargain.  From  this  time 
on  his  hand  was  against  Clay,  —  that  "  Judas  of 
the  West,"  as  he  afterward  called  him,  —  who  had 
conspired  to  "  impair  the  pure  principles  of  our  re 
publican  institutions  "  and  to  "  prostrate  that  fun 
damental  maxim  which  maintains  the  supremacy  of 
the  people's  will." 

Years  after  the  events  of  1824-25,  the  belief 
of  Jackson  that  the  will  of  the  people  had  been 
defeated  found  classic  expression  in  Thomas  H. 
Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View  of  Congress.  What 
Benton  termed  "  the  Demos  Krateo  principle  "  was 
thoroughly  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  new 
democracy,  but  it  rested  upon  an  entire  niisunder- 


316          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

standing  of  the  Constitution.  A  direct  popular  elec 
tion  of  the  President  was  never  contemplated  by  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution.  It  is  impossible  to  find 
in  either  the  letter  or  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution 
any  justification  for  the  view  that  the  House  of 
Representatives  is  bound  to  elect  the  candidate 
having  the  highest  popular  vote. 

What  the  will  of  the  people  really  was  in  the 
presidential  election  of  1824  is  by  no  means  clear. 
Even  in  those  States  where  presidential  electors 
were  chosen  by  popular  vote,  Jackson  received  less 
than  half  of  the  popular  vote ;  and  in  many  of  these 
States  the  actual  vote  fell  far  below  the  potential. 
In  Massachusetts,  where  66,000  votes  had  been  cast 
for  governor  the  year  before,  only  37,000  voters 
took  the  trouble  to  vote  for  President.  In  Pennsyl 
vania,  which  boasted  of  a  population  of  over  a 
million,  less  than  48,000  voted  in  1824.  Moreover, 
the  six  States  which  chose  the  presidential  electors 
through  their  legislatures,  contained  one  fourth  of 
the  population  of  the  country.  One  fact,  however, 
stands  out  with  unmistakable  clearness,  —  and  it  did 
not  escape  politicians  like  Van  Buren,  of  New  York, 
who  had  their  fingers  on  the  pulse  of  the  people,  — 
this  martial  hero  from  out  of  the  West  had  an  un 
precedented  vote-getting  capacity.  It  were  well  to 
observe  the  Western  horizon  more  intently. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

The  best  description  of  the  political  characteristics  of  American 
society  in  this  period  is  given  by  Alexis  de  Tocqueville,  Democracy 
in  America  (2  yols.,  trans.,  1862).  F.  J.  Turner  has  pointed  out 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY  317 

the  importance  of  the  West  in  the  development  of  the  nation  in 
several  studies,  notably:  "The  Significance  of  the  Frontier  in 
American  History"  (American  Historical  Association,  Report, 
1893);  "The  Problem  of  the  West"  (Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  78); 
"Contributions  of  the  West  to  American  Democracy"  (Atlantic 
Monthly,  vol.  91).  The  political  development  of  the  South  is  set 
forth  with  great  thoroughness  by  U.  B.  Phillips,  Georgia  and 
State  Rights  (American  Historical  Association,  Report,  1901); 
W.  A.  Schaper,  Sectionalism  and  Representation  in  South  Carolina 
(ibid.,  1900);  and  C.  H.  Ambler,  Sectionalism  in  Virginia  from 
1776  to  1861  (1910).  Important  aspects  of  the  tariff  are  discussed 
in  Edward  Stanwood's  American  Tariff  Controversies  in  the  Nine 
teenth  Century  (2  vols.,  1903),  and  in  C.  W.  Wright's  Wool-Grow 
ing  and  the  Tariff  (1910). 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

POLITICS    AND    STATE    RIGHTS 

THE  circumstances  of  his  election  made  the  posi 
tion  of  President  Adams  one  of  very  great  difficulty. 
He  alluded  to  his  embarrassment  in  his  first  mes 
sage  to  Congress.  "  Less  possessed  of  your  confi 
dence  in  advance  than  any  of  my  predecessors,"  said 
he,  "  I  am  deeply  conscious  of  the  prospect  that  I 
shall  stand  more  and  oftener  in  need  of  your  indul 
gence."  It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  even  he  appre 
ciated  the  momentum  of  the  forces  which  were 
already  combining  to  discredit  his  administration. 
In  October,  the  legislature  of  Tennessee  had  again 
nominated  Jackson  for  the  Presidency,  and  he  had 
accepted  the  nomination  as  a  summons  to  wage  war 
upon  the  forces  of  evil  in  high  places.  The  cam 
paign  of  1828,  indeed,  had  already  begun :  and  it 
was  to  be  a  campaign  of  personal  vindication  as  well 
as  of  popular  rights. 

Under  similar  circumstances  most  men  would 
have  made  sure  of  the  loyalty  of  their  constitutional 
advisers,  at  least,  but  Adams  flattered  himself  that 
he  could  carry  on  a  non-partisan  administration. 
The  results  were  disastrous,  for  at  least  two  of  the 
Cabinet  were  not  above  using  the  patronage  of  office 
to  further  the  cause  of  Jackson.  In  his  laudable 
desire  not  to  allow  the  Government  to  become  "  a 
perpetual  and  unintermitting  scramble  for  office," 


POLITICS  AND   STATE   RIGHTS      319 

Adams  refused  to  make  removals  in  the  civil  service 
on  partisan  grounds,  yet  he  retained  in  office  under 
lings  who  labored  incessantly  in  the  cause  of  the 
opposition. 

Equally  impolitic  was  the  attitude  of  the  Presi 
dent  toward  questions  of  public  policy  in  his  first 
message  to  Congress.  Just  when  the  opposition  was 
in  a  fluid  state  and  the  winds  of  conflicting  doctrines 
were  ruffling  the  surface  of  national  politics,  Adams 
gave  utterance  to  opinions  on  the  functions  of  gov 
ernment  which  were  bound  to  alienate  many  of  his 
followers.  Entertaining  no  doubts  as  to  constitu 
tional  limitations  upon  the  powers  of  the  National 
Government,  he  advocated  not  only  the  construction 
of  roads  and  canals,  but  the  establishment  of  observ 
atories  and  a  national  university.  His  program 
included  governmental  aid  to  the  arts,  mechanical 
and  literary,  and  to  the  sciences,  "  ornamental  and 
profound."  He  was  prepared  to  give  encouragement 
not  only  to  manufacturing  but  to  agriculture  and  to 
commerce.  Many  of  these  were  objects  which  Presi 
dent  Jefferson  had  recommended  to  the  consideration 
of  Congress  in  1806  ;  but  whereas  he  had  urged  the 
adoption  of  amendments  to  the  Constitution  which 
would  authorize  Congress  to  provide  for  roads 
and  canals  and  education,  Adams  seemed  oblivious 
to  the  limitations  of  the  Constitution.  In  much 
alarm  Jefferson  suggested  to  Madison  the  desira 
bility  of  having  Virginia  adopt  a  new  set  of  resolu 
tions,  bottomed  on  those  of  1798,  and  directed 
against  the  acts  for  internal  improvements.  In 
March,  182G,  the  general  assembly  declared  that  all 


320          UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

the  principles  of  the  earlier  resolutions  applied 
"with  full  force  against  the  powers  assumed  by 
Congress  "  in  passing  acts  to  protect  manufactures 
and  to  further  internal  improvements.  That  the 
Administration  would  meet  with  opposition  in  Con 
gress,  whatever  its  program  might  be,  was  a  fore 
gone  conclusion.  The  only  question  was  whether 
the  diverse  and  mutually  hostile  factions  which  had 
followed  the  fortunes  of  Crawford,  Calhoun,  and 
Jackson  could  coalesce  into  a  consistent  opposition. 
The  first  test  occurred  when  the  Administration 
proposed  the  Panama  mission. 

The  overthrow  of  the  authority  of  Spain  in  South 
America  had  left  the  way  clear  for  the  long-pro 
jected  union  of  the  republics.  Early  in  the  year 
1825,  the  ministers  of  Mexico,  Guatemala,  and  Co 
lombia  waited  on  Clay  to  learn  whether  the  United 
States  would  accept  an  invitation  to  a  great  council 
or  congress  which  had  been  called  by  the  revolu 
tionist  Bolivar,  now  President  of  Colombia.  The 
project  appealed  strongly  to  Clay.  A  league  of 
young  republics  in  the  New  World  to  offset  the 
Holy  Alliance  in  Europe  was,  as  his  biographer  re 
marks,  "one  of  those  large,  generous  conceptions 
well  calculated  to  fascinate  his  ardent  mind."  The 
imagination  of  the  President  was  not  so  easily 
touched :  he  instructed  Clay  to  inquire  more  particu 
larly  into  the  purposes  of  the  congress. 

The  condition  of  affairs  in  the  countries  border 
ing  on  the  Caribbean  Sea  —  the  American  Mediter 
ranean  —  was  such,  indeed,  as  to  justify  extreme 
caution  in  dealing  with  the  Latin-American  repub- 


POLITICS  AND   STATE   RIGHTS      321 

lies.  It  was  matter  of  common  knowledge  that 
Colombia  and  Mexico  had  designs  upon  Cuba,  the 
jlast  of  the  Spanish  outposts  in  the  New  World.  So 
long  as  Spain  continued  at  war  with  her  old  colonies, 
the  United  States  was  bound  to  be  uneasy  about  the 
fate  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico.  Even  if  the  islands 
were  liberated  by  the  republican  armies  of  Central 
and  South  America,  they  were  likely  to  fall  a  prey 
to  some  European  power.  The  appearance  of  a 
French  fleet  off  the  coast  of  Cuba  during  the  sum 
mer  of  1825  gave  point  to  these  not  unwarranted 
apprehensions.  It  was  rumored  that  Cuba  was  to 
be  made  the  basis  for  an  expedition  against  Mexico 
in  behalf  of  Spain.  This  episode  prompted  Clay 
to  make  strong  representations  to  France  that  the 
United  States  could  not  consent  to  the  occupation  of 
Cuba  by  any  other  European  power. 

When,  then,  a  formal  invitation  came  to  partici 
pate  in  the  Panama  Congress,  the  Administration 
determined  to  seize  the  occasion  to  exercise  a  whole 
some  restraint  by  friendly  advice  upon  the  assembled 
delegates  of  the  republics,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
ascertain  their  purposes.  In  asking  the  Senate  to 
confirm  the  nomination  of  two  delegates,  however, 
the  President  voiced  his  own  expectation  of  what 
the  Congress  would  be  and  do,  rather  than  the  pur 
poses  of  Bolivar  and  his  associates.  The  occasion 
would  be  favorable,  the  President  intimated,  for 
the  discussion  of  commercial  reciprocity,  of  neutral 
rights,  and  of  principles  of  religious  liberty.  An  al 
liance  with  the  Latin-American  republics  was  not 
contemplated.  On  the  contrary,  the  delegates  from 


322          UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

the  United  States  would  urge  "an  agreement  be 
tween  all  of  the  parties  represented  at  the  meeting, 
that  each  will  guard  by  its  own  means  against  the 
establishment  of  any  future  European  colony  within 
its  borders."  At  this  stage  in  its  evolution  the  Mon 
roe  Doctrine  was  not  understood  to  include  any  ob 
ligation  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  police  the 
territories  of  the  lesser  republics  of  the  New  World. 

The  instructions  given  to  the  envoys  leave  no 
doubt  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  Administration. 
Every  possible  endeavor  was  to  be  made  to  dissuade 
Colombia  and  Mexico  from  their  designs  upon  Cuba 
and  Porto  Rico.  The  recognition  of  Hayti  as  an  in 
dependent  state  was  to  be  deprecated.  In  short,  the 
status  quo  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  was  to  be  main 
tained  ;  and  throughout,  the  congress  was  to  be  re 
garded  as  a  diplomatic  conference  and  in  no  wise  as 
a  convention  to  constitute  a  permanent  league  of 
republics. 

Nevertheless,  the  opposition  in  Congress  persisted 
in  misrepresenting  the  President's  purposes.  It  was 
pointed  out  that  the  republics  to  the  south  very 
generally  believed  that  the  United  States  was 
pledged  by  Monroe's  message  to  make  common 
cause  with  them  when  their  independence  was 
threatened.  "  Are  we  prepared,"  asked  Hayne,  of 
South  Carolina,  "  to  send  ministers  to  the  Congress 
of  Panama  for  the  purpose  of  making  effectual  this 
pledge  of  President  Monroe  as  construed  by  the 
present  administration  and  understood  by  the  Span 
ish-American  states?"  With  greater  sincerity  South 
ern  Representatives  protested  against  participating 


POLITICS  AND   STATE   RIGHTS      323 

in  a  congress  which  proposed  to  discuss  the  suppres 
sion  of  the  slave  trade  and  the  future  of  Hayti. 
"  Slavery  in  all  its  bearings,"  said  Hayne,  "  is  a 
question  of  extreme  delicacy,  concerning  which  there 
is  but  one  safe  rule  either  for  the  States  in  which  it 
exists  or  for  the  Union.  It  must  ever  be  treated  as 
a  domestic  question.  To  foreign  governments  the 
lano-nasre  of  the  United  States  must  be  that  the 

O          O 

question  of  slavery  concerns  the  peace  and  safety  of 
our  political  family,  and  that  we  cannot  allow  it  to 
be  discussed."  Least  of  all,  he  continued,  could  the 
United  States  touch  the  question  of  the  independ 
ence  of  Hayti  in  connection  with  revolutionary  gov 
ernments  which  had  marched  to  victory  under  the 
banner  of  universal  emancipation  and  which  had 
permitted  men  of  color  to  command  their  armies 
and  enter  their  legislative  halls. 

In  the  end  the  Administration  had  its  way  and 
the  nominations  were  confirmed  ;  but  the  delay  was 
most  unfortunate.  On  their  way  to  the  Isthmus,  one 
of  the  delegates  died,  and  the  other  arrived  too  late 
to  take  part  in  the  congress.  From  the  viewpoint  of 
domestic  politics,  the  controversy  over  the  mission 
was  only  an  incident  in  the  evolution  of  a  party 
within  the  bosom  of  the  Democratic  party.  The  ani 
mus  of  the  opposition  is  revealed  in  the  often-quoted 
remark  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  who  was  trying  to 
drill  the  varied  elements  in  the  Senate  into  a  coher 
ent  organization  :  "  Yes,  they  have  beaten  us  by  a 
few  votes,  after  a  hard  battle ;  but  if  they  had  only 
taken  the  other  side  and  refused  the  mission,  we 
should  have  had  them." 


324          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

Of  far  more  serious  import  than  this  factional 
opposition  in  Congress  was  the  resistance  which  the 
authorities  of  Georgia  offered  to  the  National  Admin 
istration  in  the  matter  of  Indian  lands.  On  March 
5,  1825,  the  Senate  ratified  the  Treaty  of  Indian 
Springs  with  the  Creek  Indians,  which  provided  for 
the  cession  of  practically  all  the  lands  of  the  tribe 
between  the  Flint  and  Chattahoochee  Rivers.  For 
years  the  planters  of  Georgia  had  coveted  these 
fertile  tracts,  awaiting  with  impatience  the  negotia 
tions  of  the  Federal  Government  with  the  reluctant 
Indians.  Although  the  title  to  the  lands  was  not  to 
pass  to  Georgia  until  September  1,  1826,  Governor 
Troup  ordered  them  to  be  surveyed  with  a  view  to 
their  immediate  occupation.  Meantime,  well-founded 
charges  were  current  that  the  treaty  had  been  made 
by  a  faction  among  the  Creeks,  without  the-  consent 
of  the  responsible  chiefs.  President  Adams  at  once 
ordered  the  state  authorities  to  desist  from  their  sur 
vey  ;  but  the  governor  replied  that  Georgia  was  con 
vinced  of  the  validity  of  the  treaty  and  fully  deter 
mined  to  enter  into  possession  of  her  own.  The  tone 
of  the  governor's  letter  was  ominous.  Nevertheless, 
the  President  instituted  negotiations  for  a  new 
treaty.  The  diplomatic  shifts  resorted  to  by  the  In 
dian  agents  in  this  instance  were  not  above  suspi 
cion,  but  the  President  seemed  to  entertain  110  mis 
givings,  for  he  assured  the  Senate  that  the  new 
Treaty  of  Washington  (January  24,  1826)  was  the 
will  and  deed  of  "  the  chiefs  of  the  whole  Creek 
Nation."  The  grant  left  the  Indians  still  in  posses 
sion  of  some  lands  west  of  the  Chattahoochee. 


POLITICS  AND  STATE   RIGHTS      325 

The  feelings  of  all  loyal  Georgians  were  outraged 
by  the  course  of  the  Administration.  The  legislature 
protested  against  the  Treaty  of  Washington  as  "  il 
legal  and  unconstitutional,"  and  denounced  the 
President's  action  as  "  an  instance  of  dictation  and 
federal  supremacy  unwarranted  by  any  grant  of 
powers  to  the  General  Government."  "  Georgia 
owns  exclusively  the  soil  and  jurisdiction  of  all  the 
territory  within  her  present  chartered  and  conven 
tional  limits,"  read  the  resolutions  of  December  22, 
1826.  "  She  has  never  relinquished  said  right,  either 
territorial  or  jurisdictional,  to  the  General  Govern 
ment." 

The  ebullient  governor  hardly  needed  the  indorse 
ment  of  the  legislature.  He  pushed  on  the  surveys 
to  the  limits  set  by  the  original  treaty.  But  the  sur 
veyors  soon  met  with  resistance  from  the  Indians ; 
and  the  Indians  appealed  to  the  President.  The  Sec 
retary  of  War  then  notified  Troup  that  the  President 
felt  himself  compelled  to  employ  all  the  means  under 
his  control  to  maintain  the  faith  of  the  nation  and 
to  carry  the  treaty  into  effect.  Governor  Troup  re 
plied  defiantly  that  the  "  military  character  of  the 
menace  "  was  well  understood.  "  You  will  distinctly 
understand,  therefore,  that  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  re 
sist  to  the  utmost  any  military  attack.  .  .  .  From  the 
first  decisive  act  of  hostility,  you  will  be  considered 
and  treated  as  a  public  enemy,  and  with  less  repug 
nance  because  you,  to  whom  we  might  constitution 
ally  have  appealed  for  our  defense  against  invasion, 
are  yourselves  the  invaders,  and,  what  is  more,  the 
unblushing  allies  of  the  savages  whose  course  you 


326          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

have  adopted."  He  at  once  issued  orders  to  the  state 
military  officers  to  hold  the  militia  in  readiness  to 
repel  any  invasion  of  the  soil  of  Georgia. 

The  tension  which  had  now  become  acute  was  re 
lieved  by  the  intelligence  that  the  President  had  or 
dered  the  Indian  agent  to  the  Creeks  to  resume 
negotiations  for  the  cession  of  the  rest  of  their  lands. 
The  governor  hastened  to  point  out  jubilantly  that 
the  President  had  beaten  a  retreat.  Meantime,  the 
President  had  laid  the  whole  matter  before  Congress 
in  a  special  message.  A  committee  of  the  House  ad 
vised  the  purchase  of  the  rest  of  the  Indian  lands, 
but  in  the  mean  time  the  maintenance  of  the  terms 
of  the  Treaty  of  Washington.  A  committee  of  the 
Senate,  however,  with  Benton  as  chairman,  took  an 
opposite  view  of  the  situation,  and  deprecated  any 
action  looking  toward  the  coercion  of  a  sister  State. 
A  treaty  concluded  with  the  Creeks  in  November, 
1827,  fortunately  satisfied  all  parties  and  put  an  end 
to  this  exciting  controversy  —  a  controversy  in  whiclf 
the  President  had  played  a  lone  and  not  very  suc 
cessful  hand. 

In  this  same  year  (1827),  another  Indian  prob 
lem  of  even  greater  perplexity  arose.  The  Cherokee^ 
of  northwestern  Georgia,  who  were  ruled  by  a  group 
of  intelligent  half-breeds,  declared  themselves  one  of 
the  sovereign  and  independent  nations  of  the  earth, 
and  drafted  a  constitution  which  completely  excluded 
the  authority  of  the  State  of  Georgia.  Again,  in  no 
uncertain  language,  Georgia  asserted  her  title  to  all 
the  lands  within  her  limits,  regarding  the  Indians 
simply  as  "  tenants  at  her  will  "  ;  but  before  the  con 


POLITICS  AND  STATE   RIGHTS      327 

troversy  reached  an  acute  stage  Adams  had  surren 
dered  the  Presidency  to  General  Andrew  Jackson, 
who  had  only  contempt  for  Indian  rights  when  they 
fell  athwart  the  purposes  of  honest  white  settlers. 

In  the  midst  of  these  protestations  against  federal 
intervention,  the  legislature  of  Georgia  sounded  a 
note  of  defiance  also  in  the  matter  of  the  tariff.  It 
was  "  their  decided  opinion  an  increase  of  Tariff  du 
ties  will  and  ought  to  be  RESISTED  by  all  legal 
and  constitutional  means."  Just  what  should  be  "  the 
mode  of  opposition  "  they  would  not  pretend  to  say, 
but  for  the  present  they  would  content  themselves 
with  "  the  peaceable  course  of  remonstrating  with 
Congress."  This  rather  ominous  protest  was  inspired 
by  the  demands  of  certain  manufacturers  and  poli 
ticians  who  had  assembled  in  convention  at  Harris- 
burg,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  summer  of  1827. 

The  woolen  industry  had  profited  least  of  all  those 
which  had  been  protected  by  the  Tariff  of  1824. 
Not  only  had  the  slight  advance  in  rates  been  offset 
by  the  increase  of  the  duty  on  raw  wool,  but  the 
effect  of  English  competition  in  1825  had  been  most 
depressing  to  the  woolen  trade.  A  tariff  bill  to  meet 
the  wishes  of  the  wool-growers  and  woolen  manufac 
turers  had  passed  the  House  early  in  1827,  but  had 
been  defeated  in  the  Senate  by  the  casting  vote  of 
the  Vice-Presiclent.  The  convention  at  Harrisburg 
was  designed  to  create  a  public  sentiment  in  favor  of 
the  protected  interests  and  to  bring  pressure  from 
various  sources  to  bear  upon  Congress.  The  failure  of 
the  tariff  bill  in  the  spring  session  had  impressed  upon 
woolen  manufacturers  the  necessity  of  securing  allies. 


328          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

The  recommendations  of  the  convention  at  Har- 
risburg  were  comprehensive.  Higher  duties  all  along 
the  line,  from  wool  to  glass,  were  urged.  But  that 
which  the  promoters  of  the  convention  had  most  at 
heart  was  the  extension  to  woolens  of  the  minimum 
principle  already  applied  to  cotton  fabrics.  Accord 
ing  to  their  demands,  the  ad  valorem  duty  on  wool 
ens  should  range  from  forty  to  fifty  per  cent,  as 
sessed  on  minimum  valuations  of  fifty  cents,  two 
dollars  and  a  half,  four  dollars,  and  six  dollars  a 
yard.  That  is  to  say,  goods  valued  at  less  than  fifty 
cents  a  yard  were  to  be  treated  as  though  they  had 
a  value  of  fifty  cents  ;  and  all  between  fifty  cents  and 
two  dollars  and  a  half,  as  though  they  were  worth 
two  dollars  and  a  half ;  and  so  on  —  a  system  which 
offered  a  high  degree  of  protection  to  the  cheaper 
fabrics  in  each  group. 

The  high  hopes  of  the  protectionists  were  only 
partially  realized.  In  the  following  session  of  Con 
gress,  economic  interests  became  badly  tangled  with 
political.  The  President  and  the  greater  part  of  his 
supporters  were  protectionists.  Indeed,  it  was  openly 
charged  by  the  opposition  that  the  Harrisburg  Con 
vention  was  a  device  of  the  Adams  men  to  promote 
his  reelection.  The  opposition,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  far  from  united  on  the  tariff  question.  The  only 
affinity  between  Southern  planters  and  their  North 
ern  allies  in  the  Middle  and  Western  States  was 
hostility  to  the  Administration.  According  to  Cal- 
houn,  who  in  after  years  made  a  frank  avowal  of  his 
part  in  the  intrigue,  the  opposition  determined  to 
frame  a  tariff  bill  with  a  general  high  level  of  duties 


POLITICS  AND   STATE   RIGHTS      329 

to  satisfy  the  Middle  and  Western  States,  but  to  in 
crease  the  duties  on  raw  material  which  New  Eng 
land  manufacturers  needed.  All  the  stanch  Jackson 
men  were  to  unite  in  forcing  this  bill  to  a  passage 
without  amendment.  At  the  last  moment,  however, 
the  Southern  group  were  to  part  company  with  their 
allies  and  to  vote  against  the  bill.  The  Representa 
tives  from  New  England,  and  the  supporters  of  the 
Administration  generally,  would  of  course  vote 
against  the  bill  also,  and  so  compass  its  defeat.  The 
odium  would  then  fall  upon  the  Adams  men,  while 
the  Jackson  men  could  pose  as  the  only  whole 
hearted  advocates  of  protection  ;  and,  finally,  not 
the  least  factor  in  Calhoun's  calculations,  the  South 
would  escape  the  toils  of  high  protection.  There 
was  only  one  hitch  in  this  cleverly  planned  game. 
To  the  consternation  of  the  plotters,  enough  New 
England  Representatives  swallowed  the  bitter  dose 
to  enact  the  bill. 

The  "tariff  of  abominations"  deserves  all  the 
abuse  which  has  been  heaped  upon  it.  Shapen  in 
political  iniquity,  it  bore  upon  its  face  the  marks  of 
its  origin.  High  duties  for  which  no  one  had  asked 
were  imposed  on  certain  raw  material  like  pig  and 
bar  iron,  and  hemp,  the  better  quality  of  which  was 
always  in  demand  and  never  produced  in  the  United 
States.  Items  like  the  increased  duty  on  molasses  and 
the  heavy  duty  on  sail-duck  were  added  to  make  the 
bill  distasteful  to  New  England.  But  the  woolen  in 
dustry  suffered  the  most  grievous  disappointment. 
Instead  of  the  minimum  principle  advocated  by  the 
Harrisburg  Convention,  the  Act  of  1828  established 


330          UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 

a  minimum  of  one  dollar  between  the  minimal  points 
of  fifty  cents  and  two  dollars  and  a  half.  Whereas 
the  proposed  rate  would  have  fixed  a  prohibitory  duty 
on  woolens  costing  about  a  dollar  a  yard,  the  act 
allowed  only  a  duty  of  forty-five  per  cent.  "  The  dol 
lar  minimum,"  as  one  of  the  aggrieved  manufacturers 
put  it,  "  was  planted  in  the  very  midst  of  the  woolen 
trade." 

Again  the  Middle  States  and  the  States  of  the 
Ohio  Valley  united  in  support  of  the  protective  prin 
ciple.  New  England  was  divided  against  itself.  Po 
litical  considerations  weighed  heavily  with  those  New 
Englanders  who  like  Webster  voted  for  the  bill. 
John  Randolph  hardly  exaggerated  when  he  declared 
that  "  the  bill  referred  to  manufactures  of  no  sort  or 
kind,  except  the  manufacture  of  a  President  of  the 
United  States." 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

To  the  bibliography  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  chapter  only  a 
few  titles  need  be  added.  The  foreign  policy  of  the  Adams  Admin 
istration  is  well  described  in  F.  E.  Chadwick's  The  Relations  of  the 
United  States  and  Spain  (1909).  The  stages  in  the  Indian  contro 
versy  may  be  traced  in  U.  B.  Phillips's  Georgia  and  State  Rights 
(American  Historical  Association,  Report,  1901),  and  in  E.  J.  Har- 
din's  Life  of  George  M.  Troup  (1859).  E.  M.  Shepard,  Martin  Van 
Buren  (1888),  and  T.  D.  Jervey,  Robert  Y.  Hayne  and  His  Times 
(1909),  are  important  biographies.  Josiah  Quincy's  Figures  of  the 
Past  (1883)  contains  some  interesting  sketches  of  Washington 
society,  while  N.  Sargent's  Public  Men  and  Events  (2  vols.,  1875) 
supplies  an  abundance  of  political  gossip. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE    RISE    OF    NATIONAL    SOVEREIGNTY 

SHORTLY  after  the  Federal  Convention  of  1787, 
a  friend  remarked  to  Gouverneur  Morris,  "  You  have 
made  a  good  constitution."  "That,"  replied  Morris 
laconically,  "  depends  on  how  it  is  construed !  "  From 
Washington  to  Jackson  the  process  of  construing 
the  Constitution  had  gone  on,  intermittently  by  the 
executive  and  legislative,  steadily  by  the  judiciary. 
"  The  judiciary  of  the  United  States,"  wrote  Jeffer 
son  in  1820,  "is  the  subtle  corps  of  sappers  and 
miners  constantly  working  underground  to  under 
mine  the  foundations  of  our  confederate  fabric.  They 
are  constantly  construing  our  constitution  from  a 
coordination  of  a  general  and  a  special  government, 
to  a  general  and  supreme  one  alone.  They  will  lay 
all  things  at  their  feet,  and  they  are  too  well  versed 
in  the  English  law  to  forget  the  maxim, '  boni  judicis 
est  ampliare  jurisdictionemS  " 

Yet  as  late  as  1800  the  federal  judiciary  had  pro 
nounced  none  of  those  decisions  which  were  to  make 
it  so  powerful  a  factor  in  the  assertion  and  main 
tenance  of  national  sovereignty.  In  declining  an  ap 
pointment  as  Chief  Justice,  John  Jay  wro.te  to  Presi 
dent  Adams  that  he  had  "left  the  bench  perfectly 
convinced  that  under  a  system  so  defective,  it  would 
not  obtain  the  energy,  weight,  and  dignity,  which 
were  essential  to  its  affording  due  support  to  the 


332          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

National  Government;  nor  acquire  the  public  confi 
dence  and  respect  which,  as  the  last  resort  of  the 
justice  of  the  Nation,  it  should  possess." 

The  uncertainty  of  the  law  was  in  large  part  re 
sponsible  for  this  lack  of  prestige.  "  Too  great  inat 
tention,"  complained  a  Boston  lawyer,  in  the  Colum 
bian  Centinel  in  1801,  "has  hitherto  prevailed  as  to 
the  preservation  of  the  decisions  of  our  courts  of  law. 
We  have  neither  authorized  nor  voluntary  reporters. 
Hence  we  are  compelled  to  the  loose  and  interested 
recollections  of  counsel,  or  to  depend  wholly  on 
British  decisions."  The  first  systematic  attempt  to 
secure  records  of  opinions  was  made  by  Connecticut 
in  1785.  Four  years  later,  Ephraim  Kirby,  a  printer 
in  Litchfield,  issued  "the  first  regular  printed  law 
reports  in  America."  This  example  was  followed  in 
other  States;  and  in  1798  the  first  volume  of  United 
States  Supreme  Court  Reports  was  published  by 
Dallas. 

The  great  period  in  the  history  of  the  Supreme 
Court  coincides  with  the  thirty-four  years  during 
which  John  Marshall  held  the  office  of  Chief  Justice. 
President  John  Adams  rendered  no  more  lasting  ser 
vice  to  the  Federalist  cause  than  when  he  appointed 
this  great  Virginian  to  the  bench,  for  Marshall,  if  not 
a  Federalist  of  the  strictest  sect,  was  a  thoroughgoing 
nationalist.  Down  to  his  appointment  only  six  deci 
sions  involving  constitutional  questions  of  any  moment 
had  been  handed  down;  between  1801  and  1835, 
sixty-two  were  rendered,  of  which  Marshall  wrote 
thirty-six.  The  decisions  of  the  court  during  "the 
reign  of  Marshall "  fill  thirty  volumes  of  the  Reports. 


RISE   OF   NATIONAL   SOVEREIGNTY    333 

Seven  hundred  and  fifty-three  cases  were  taken  on 
appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  from  the  lower  federal 
courts,  and  in  nearly  one  half  of  these  cases  the  de 
cisions  were  reversed. 

An  American  constitutional  law  did  not  exist 
when  Marshall  took  office.  Few  precedents  were 
available.  In  some  of  his  important  cases  Marshall 
did  not  cite  a  single  judicial  decision.  He  reached 
his  conclusions  by  the  light  of  reason.  "  There,  Story," 
he  would  say  to  his  associate,  "  is  the  law.  Now  you 
must  find  the  authorities."  In  a  peculiar  sense  it  is 
true  to  say  that  Marshall  both  laid  the  foundations 
of  constitutional  law  and  reared  the  superstructure, 
as  one  of  his  biographers  remarks.  But  Marshall 
was  ably  supported  by  his  colleagues ;  and  he  owed 
much,  as  he  freely  admitted,  to  the  arguments  of 
a  remarkable  body  of  lawyers  of  the  federal  bar. 
Wirt,  Pinkney,  and  Webster  were  as  truly  crea 
tors  of  American  constitutional  law  as  the  learned 
justices. 

The  constitutional  importance  of  the  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court  in  Marbury  v.  Madison  has 
already  been  pointed  out.  In  the  development  of 
the  idea  of  national  sovereignty,  the  significance  of 
the  decision  lies  in  the  emphatic  assertion  that  the 
Supreme  Court  is  the  tribunal  of  last  resort  in  cases 
involving  the  constitutionality  of  acts  of  Congress. 

The  first  open  resistance  of  a  State  to  federal 
authority,  as  asserted  by  the  Supreme  Court,  oc 
curred  in  1809,  when  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania 
interposed  its  authority  to  prevent  the  payment  of 
prize  money  which  had  been  awarded  by  a  federal 


334          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

district  court  to  Gideon  Ol instead  and  others  for 
their  capture  of  the  sloop  Active  during  the  Revolu 
tion.  All  efforts  to  secure  a  peaceful  settlement  of 
this  controversy  having  failed,  the  Attorney-General, 
in  behalf  of  Olmstead,  applied  to  the  Supreme  Court 
for  a  writ  of  mandamus,  directing  Judge  Peters  of 
the  district  court  to  enforce  his  judgment.  In  grant 
ing  the  writ,  Chief  Justice  Marshall  pointed  out  the 
gravity  of  the  issue.  "  If  the  legislatures  of  the  several 
States,"  said  he,  "may  at  will  annul  the  judgment  of 
the  courts  of  the  United  States,  and  destroy  the 
rights  acquired  under  those  judgments,  the  Consti 
tution  becomes  a  solemn  mockery,  and  the  nation  is 
deprived  of  the  means  of  enforcing  its  laws  by  the 
instrumentality  of  its  own  tribunals."  Such  a  con 
clusion  he  emphatically  repudiated.  Reviewing  the 
history  of  the  case  with  all  its  details,  he  reached 
the  uncompromising  conclusion  that  "the  State  of 
Pennsylvania  can  possess  no  constitutional  right  to 
resist  the  legal  process  which  may  be  directed  in 
this  cause.  ...  A  peremptory  mandamus  must  be 
awarded." 

Judge  Peters  issued  the  writ,  but  all  efforts  of  the 
marshal  to  serve  the  writ  were  thwarted  by  the  state 
militia.  The  marshal  then  summoned  a  posse  comitatus 
of  two  thousand  men.  Bloodshed  seemed  imminent ; 
but  after  an  ineffectual  appeal  to  the  President,  the 
Pennsylvania  authorities  gave  way  and  paid  over 
the  money.  Subsequently  the  officer  commanding  the 
militia  and  others  were  indicted,  tried,  convicted,  and 
sentenced  to  fine  and  imprisonment,  for  resisting 
the  writ  of  a  federal  court ;  but  they  were  pardoned 


RISE   OF   NATIONAL   SOVEREIGNTY    335 

by  the  President  because  "  they  had  acted  under  a 
mistaken  sense  of  duty." 

In  this  conflict  of  authority  the  National  Govern 
ment  won  at  every  point.  Even  the  resolution  which 
the  legislature  adopted  in  the  heat  of  the  controversy, 
calling  for  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  which 
should  establish  "  an  impartial  tribunal  to  determine 
disputes  between  the  General  and  State  Govern 
ments,"  met  with  no  approval  from  other  States. 
Virginia,  soon  to  be  of  a  very  different  mind,  re 
sponded  that  u  a  tribunal  is  already  provided  .  .  . 
to  wit :  the  Supreme  Court,  more  eminently  qualified 
from  their  habits  and  duties,  from  the  mode  of  their 
selection,  and  from  the  tenure  of  their  offices,  to  de 
cide  the  disputes  aforesaid  in  an  enlightened  and  im 
partial  manner,  than  any  other  tribunal  which  could 
be  erected." 

In  two  notable  cases,  the  Supreme  Court  affirmed 
the  constitutionality  of  the  Judiciary  Act  of  1789 
and  asserted  its  authority  to  review  and  reverse  de 
cisions  of  the  state  courts  when  those  decisions  were 
adverse  to  alleged  federal  rights.  The  opinion  in  the 
first  case,  that  of  Martin  v.  Hunter's  Lessee,  in 
181G,  was  written  by  Joseph  Story,  of  Massachusetts, 
who  had  been  appointed  to  a  vacancy  on  the  bench 
by  President  Madison.  Story  was  reputed  to  be  a 
Republican,  but  he  disappointed  all  expectations  by 
becoming  a  stanch  supporter  of  nationalist  doctrines 
and  only  second  to  Marshall  in  his  influence  upon 
the  development  of  American  constitutional  law. 

The  case  of  Martin  v.  Hunter  s  Lessee  grew  out 
of  the  old  Fairfax  claims  which  Marshall  had  rep- 


336  UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

resented  as  counsel  before  his  appointment  to  the 
bench.  In  1815,  the  Supreme  Court  had  reversed 
the  decision  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  Virginia, 
and  ordered  the  state  court  to  execute  the  judgment 
rendered  in  the  lower  state  court.  The  judges  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals,  headed  by  Judge  Spencer  Roane, 
a  bitter  opponent  of  Marshall,  formally  announced 
that  they  would  not  obey  the  mandamus,  holding 
that  the  twenty-fifth  section  of  the  Judiciary  Act  of 
1789 — that  extending  the  appellate  jurisdiction  of 
the  Supreme  Court  over  state  tribunals — was  un 
constitutional.  The  state-rights  elements  in  Virginia 
quickly  rallied  to  the  support  of  the  judges,  and  the 
Supreme  Court  found  itself  face  to  face  with  an  in 
censed  public  opinion  in  the  Old  Dominion.  In  no 
wise  daunted  by  this  opposition,  the  Supreme  Court 
reviewed  its  position  in  1816  and  again  ordered  the 
execution  of  its  judgment. 

Five  years  later,  Chief  Justice  Marshall  rendered 
a  similar  decision  in  the  case  of  Cohens  v.  Virginia. 
The  counsel  for  the  Commonwealth  had  argued  that 
the  appellate  jurisdiction  conferred  by  the  Constitu 
tion  on  the  Supreme  Court  was  merely  authority  to 
revise  the  decisions  of  the  inferior  courts  of  the 
United  States.  "  Congress,"  it  was  contended,  "  is 
not  authorized  to  make  the  supreme  court  or  any 
other  court  of  a  State  an  inferior  court.  .  .  .  The 
inferior  courts  spoken  of  in  the  Constitution  are 
manifestly  to  be  held  by  federal  judges."  "  It  is  the 
case,  not  the  court,  that  gives  jurisdiction,"  replied 
Marshall.  "  The  courts  of  the  United  States  can, 
without  question,  revise  the  proceedings  of  the  exec- 


RISE   OF   NATIONAL   SOVEREIGNTY    337 

utive  and  legislative  authorities  of  the  States,  and 
if  they  are  found  to  be  contrary  to  the  Constitution 
may  declare  them  to  be  of  no  legal  validity.  Surely 
the  exercise  of  the  same  right  over  judicial  tribunals 
is  not  a  higher  or  more  dangerous  act  of  sovereign 
power." 

It  was  in  the  course  of  this  decision  that  Marshall 
asserted  in  unmistakable  language  the  sovereignty 
of  the  National  Government.  "  The  people  made  the 
Constitution  and  the  people  can  unmake  it.  ... 
But  this  supreme  and  irresistible  power  to  make  or 
to  unmake  resides  only  in  the  whole  body  of  the  peo 
ple  ;  not  in  any  subdivision  of  them.  The  attempts 
of  any  of  the  parts  to  exercise  it  is  usurpation,  and 
ought  to  be  repelkd  by  those  to  whom  the  people 
have  delegated  the  power  of  repelling  it.  ...  The 
framers  of  the  Constitution  were  indeed  unable  to 
make  any  provisions  which  should  protect  that  in 
strument  against  a  general  combination  of  the  States, 
or  of  the  people  for  its  destruction  ;  and  conscious  of 
this  inability,  they  have  not  made  the  attempt.  But 
they  were  able  to  provide  against  the  operation  of 
measures  adopted  in  any  one  State,  whose  tendency 
might  be  to  arrest  the  execution  of  the  laws;  and 
this  it  was  the  part  of  wisdom  to  attempt.  We  think 
they  have  attempted  it." 

Between  these  notable  Virginia  cases  was  decided, 
in  1819,  the  case  of  M'Culloch  v.  Maryland^  in 
which  the  Chief  Justice  sustained  the  constitution 
ality  of  the  act  establishing  the  National  Bank,  and 
declared  a  state  law  imposing  a  tax  on  a  branch  of 
the  Bank  unconstitutional  and  void.  In  the  course 


338          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

of  his  opinion,  which  followed  much  the  same  line 
of  reasoning  that  Alexander  Hamilton  had  em 
ployed,  Marshall  stated  in  classic  phraseology  the 
doctrine  of  liberal  construction.  Holding  that  the 
Constitution  was  not  a  code  of  law,  but  a  document 
marking  out  in  large  characters  the  powers  of  gov 
ernment,  he  sought,  among  the  enumerated  powers, 
not  the  lesser,  but  the  great  substantive,  powers 
necessary  to  the  purposes  of  the  Union.  These  sub 
stantive  powers,  however,  carry  with  them  many 
incidental  (Hamilton  said  resulting}  powers,  among 
which  a  choice  may  freely  be  made  to  achieve  the 
desired  and  legitimate  end.  "  Let  the  end  be  legiti 
mate,"  said  Marshall,  "  let  it  be  within  the  scope 
of  the  Constitution,  and  all  means  which  are  appro 
priate,  which  are  plainly  adapted  to  that  end,  which 
are  not  prohibited,  but  consist  with  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  Constitution,  are  constitutional."  In  an 
earlier  decision  (United  States  v.  Fisher,  1804), 
indeed,  Marshall  had  refused  to  concede  the  force 
of  the  argument  that  the  Federal  Government  was 
clothed  only  with  the  powers  indispensably  neces 
sary  to  exercise  powers  expressly  granted  to  it. 
"  Congress  must  possess  the  choice  of  means  which 
are  in  fact  conducive  to  the  exercise  of  a  power 
granted  by  the  Constitution." 

The  cumulative  effect  of  these  decisions  was  to 
provoke  a  violent  reaction  in  Virginia.  Under  the 
pen-name  "  Algernon  Sidney,"  Judge  Roane  re 
newed  his  attacks  upon  the  Chief  Justice  in  violent 
and  at  times  offensive  language.  "  The  judgment 
before  us,"  he  declared,  referring  to  the  case  of 


RISE   OF   NATIONAL   SOVEREIGNTY    339 

Cohens  v.  Virginia,  "  will  not  be  less  disastrous  in 
its  consequences,  than  any  of  these  memorable  judg 
ments  [of  the  time  of  Charles  I].  It  completely 
negatives  the  idea,  that  the  American  States  have  a 
real  existence,  or  are  to  be  considered,  in  any  sense, 
as  sovereign  and  independent  States."  It  seemed  to 
Jefferson  that  the  powerful  arguments  of  Roane  com 
pletely  "pulverized"  every  word  which  had  been 
uttered  by  John  Marshall.  John  Taylor  of  Caroline, 
however,  was  the  philosophical  exponent  of  this 
reactionary  movement.  In  his  Construction  Con- 
strued  (1820),  Tyranny  Unmasked  (1822),  and 
New  Views  of  the  Constitution  (1823),  he  pointed 
out  the  manifest  tendency  of  the  decisions  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  and  suggested  the  "  state  veto  "  as  the 
remedy  against  usurpation  of  power  by  the  Supreme 
Court  or  by  Congress.  The  legislature  of  Virginia 
indorsed  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  drafted 
by  Judge  Roane  which  would  have  limited  the  juris 
diction  of  the  federal  courts,  where  the  rights  of  the 
States  were  concerned,  and  which  would  have  for 
bidden  appeals  from  the  courts  of  a  State  to  any 
court  of  the  United  States.  Beyond  such  remon 
strances  and  protests,  however,  public  opinion  in 
Virginia  was  not  prepared  to  go  at  this  time. 

The  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  could  not  re 
main  indifferent  to  these  assaults.  "If,  indeed,  the 
Judiciary  is  to  be  destroyed,"  wrote  Story,  "  I 
should  be  glad  to  have  the  decisive  blow  now  struck, 
while  I  am  young,  and  can  return  to  my  profession 
and  earn  an  honest  livelihood."  But  he  added,  "  For 
the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  there  is  but  one 


340          UNION   AND   DEMOCRACY 

course  to  pursue.  That  is,  to  do  their  duty  firmly 
and  honestly,  according  to  their  best  judgments." 

It  was  in  this  spirit  that  the  court  rendered  judg 
ment  in  the  case  of  Green  v.  Bid  die  (1823),  which 
gave  deep  offense  to  the  people  of  Kentucky  by  set 
ting  aside  as  unconstitutional  the  so-called  "  Occu 
pying  Claimant  Laws."  The  remonstrance  of  the 
legislature  was  all  the  more  bitter  because  the  de 
cision  had  been  rendered  by  a  bench  of  only  four 
judges,  one  of  whom  dissented  from  the  majority 
opinion.  The  resolutions  of  the  legislature  demanded 
a  reorganization  of  the  court  in  such  wise  that  the 
concurrence  of  at  least  two  thirds  of  the  judges 
should  be  necessary  in  an  opinion  affecting  the  va 
lidity  of  state  laws.  And  when  Congress  made  no 
response,  the  lower  House  called  upon  the  governor 
to  express  his  opinion  "  whether  it  maybe  advisable 
to  call  forth  the  physical  power  of  the  State  to  re 
sist  the  execution  of  the  decisions  of  the  court,  or  in 
what  manner  the  mandates  of  said  court  should  be 
met  by  disobedience."  But  Kentucky  like  Virginia 
kept  well  within  the  legal  limits  of  petition  and  re 
monstrance. 

In  Ohio,  also,  there  was  an  ominous  spirit  of  re 
sistance  to  the  force  of  precedent.  Notwithstanding 
the  decision  of  the  court  in  the  case  of  M'  Cvlloch 
v.  Maryland,  the  general  assembly  of  that  State 
not  only  enacted  a  law  to  tax  the  local  branch  of 
the  National  Bank,  but  actually  seized  the  amount 
of  the  tax.  Suit  was  thereupon  brought  against  the 
state  auditor;  and  in  spite  of  the  vigorous  remon 
strance  of  the  legislature,  the  Supreme  Court  again 


RISE   OF  NATIONAL   SOVEREIGNTY    341 

sustained  the  constitutionality  of  the  Bank  and  de 
clared  the  state  tax  unconstitutional.  The  State  was 
ultimately  obliged  to  make  restitution  of  the  funds 
of  the  Bank. 

Meantime,  the  national  judiciary  had  contributed 
to  the  expansion  of  the  Constitution  in  notable  ways ; 


Canals  in  the  United  States 
about  1826 

t        SCALE  OF  MILES 

0  100          200          800 


sometimes  by  affirming  the  constitutionality  of  powers 
exercised  by  the  President  or  Congress,  and  at  other 
times  by  narrowing  the  limits  of  state  authority.  In 
the  case  of  the  American  Insurance  Company  v. 
Canter,  twenty-five  years  after  the  acquisition  of 
Louisiana,  Marshall  affirmed  the  constitutionality 


342          UNION  AND  DEMOCRACY 

of  the  treaty  which  had  so  aroused  Jefferson's  mis 
givings.  "The  Constitution,"  said  the  Chief  Justice, 
"  confers  absolutely  on  the  Government  of  the  Union 
the  powers  of  making  war  and  of  making  treaties ; 
consequently,  that  Government  possesses  the  power 
of  acquiring  territory,  either  by  conquest  or  by 
treaty." 

In  two  instances,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Supreme 
Court  gave  an  interpretation  of  the  "  obligation  of 
contracts  "  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  seriously 
limited  the  powers  of  the  States.  In  the  case  of 
Fletcher  v.  Peck  (1810),  the  court  declared  uncon 
stitutional  an  act  of  the  legislature  of  Georgia  which 
attempted  to  revoke  the  notorious  Yazoo  land  grants 
of  1795.  A  grant  was  held  to  be  a  contract  within 
the  meaning  of  the  Constitution ;  and  the  court 
found  no  adequate  ground  for  exempting  such  con 
tracts  from  the  prohibition  of  the  Constitution. 

Far-reaching  in  its  implication,  also,  was  the  sec 
ond  instance,  when  the  Supreme  Court  held  unconsti 
tutional  and  void  the  acts  of  the  New  Hampshire 
legislature  which  amended  the  charter  granted  by 
the  Crown  to  Dartmouth  College  in  1769.  Arguing 
as  counsel  for  the  college,  of  which  he  was  an  hon 
ored  graduate,  Daniel  Webster  held  that  the  charter 
of  a  private  corporation  was  a  contract  which  might 
not  be  impaired  by  an  act  of  a  state  legislature. 
Chief  Justice  Marshall  only  restated  and  amplified 
Webster's  argument,  when  he  rendered  the  opinion 
of  the  court  and  declared  that  New  Hampshire  might 
not  by  law  impair  the  charter  of  Dartmouth  College. 
To  the  argument  of  the  counsel  for  the  Common- 


RISE   OF   NATIONAL   SOVEREIGNTY    343 

wealth,  contending  that  the  framers  of  the  Consti 
tution  never  contemplated  such  a  broad  use  of  the 
word  "  contract,"  Marshall  replied  that  it  was  not 
enough  to  say  this  particular  use  of  the  word  was  not 
in  the  mind  of  the  Convention  when  the  article  was 
adopted.  "  It  is  necessary  to  go  farther,  and  to  say 
that,  had  this  particular  case  been  suggested,  the 
language  would  have  been  so  varied  as  to  exclude  it, 
or  it  would  have  been  made  a  special  exception." 

The  immense  significance  of  this  decision  was  not 
immediately  apparent.  The  peculiar  immunity  which 
it  gave  to  private  property  could  not  be  appreciated 
until  the  rise  of  corporations  with  concentrated  capi 
tal.  Not  even  the  Chief  Justice  foresaw  that  the 
guaranty  of  inviolability  which  he  had  thrown  about 
a  private  educational  corporation  would  be  demanded 
with  equal  right  by  the  great  business  corporations 
of  the  succeeding  era. 

In  the  famous  case  of  Gibbons  v.  Ogden  (1824), 
the  Supreme  Court  gave  an  interpretation  of  the 
commerce  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  also  had 
a  profound  effect  upon  subsequent  history.  In  the 
course  of  its  decision  the  court  declared  unconstitu 
tional  a  law  of  the  State  of  New  York  which  had 
granted  an  exclusive  right  to  operate  steamboats  in 
the  waters  of  New  York.  The  regulation  of  com 
merce,  the  court  held,  had  been  given  exclusively  to 
Congress,  and  u  commerce  "  as  used  in  the  Constitu 
tion  comprehended  not  merely  traffic  and  intercourse 
but  also  navigation.  The  power  to  regulate  was  re 
garded  as  a  unit.  In  regulating  commerce  with  for 
eign  nations,  the  power  of  Congress  does  not  stop  at 


344          UNION  AND   DEMOCRACY 

the  jurisdiction al  lines  of  the  several  States.  "  If  a 
foreign  voyage  may  commence  or  terminate  at  a  port 
within  a  State,  then  the  power  of  Congress  may  be 
exercised  within  a  State."  Similarly,  the  court  rea 
soned  that  commerce  "  among  the  States  "  cannot 
stop  at  the  external  boundary  of  each  State.  "  Corn- 


ways  of  the  United  States 
about  1825 


merce  among  the  States  must  of  necessity  be  com 
merce  with  the  States."  In  short,  while  expressly 
disclaiming  that  Congress  had  the  power  to  regulate 
the  internal  commerce  of  a  State,  the  court  asserted 
the  complete  control  of  Congress  over  interstate 
commerce  so  far  as  navigation  was  concerned.  The 
deeper  significance  of  this  interpretation  of  the  com 
merce,  clause  appeared  only  when  railroads  began  to 
span  the  continent  and  the  jurisdictional  lines  of 


RISE    OF   NATIONAL   SOVEREIGNTY    345 

States  were   crossed  and  re-crossed  by  an  ever-in 
creasing  volume  of  trade. 

Twenty-five  years  had  wrought  a  vast  change  in 
the  position  of  the  national  judiciary  in  the  Amer 
ican  constitutional  system.  "  It  is  now  seen  on  every 
hand,"  wrote  Attorney-General  Wirt,  urging  the 
appointment  of  Chancellor  Kent  to  a  vacancy  on  the 
Supreme  Court  bench,  "  that  the  functions  to  be 
performed  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  are  among  the  most  difficult  and  perilous 
which  are  to  be  performed  under  the  Constitution. 
They  demand  the  loftiest  range  of  talents  and  learn 
ing  and  a  soul  of  Roman  purity  and  firmness.  The 
questions  which  come  before  them  frequently  involve 
the  fate  of  the  Constitution,  the  happiness  of  the 
whole  Nation,  and  even  its  peace  as  it  concerns  other 
nations."  In  the  light  of  the  decisions  reviewed,  the 
nationalizing  tendency  of  the  federal  judiciary  is 
unmistakable.  But  a  constitutional  reaction  had  set 
in ;  and  even  while  John  Marshall  was  setting  forth 
the  doctrine  of  national  sovereignty  in  its  most  un 
compromising  form,  John  C.  Calhoun  in  the  quiet 
of  his  estate  in  South  Carolina  was  elaborating  a 
defense  of  state  rights  on  premises  which  the  great 
Chief  Justice  had  combated  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

An  adequate  history  of  the  Supreme  Court  has  yet  to  be  written. 
H.  L.  Carson,  The  History  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  with  biographies  of  all  the  chief  and  associate  justices  (2  vols., 
1902-04),  and  H.  Flanders,  The  Lives  and  Times  of  the  Chief-Jus 
tices  of  the  Supreme  Court  (2  vols.,  1855-58),  are  serviceable  works. 


346          UNION   AND  DEMOCRACY 

The  best  selection  of  cases  on  constitutional  law  is  that  by  J.  B. 
Thayer,  Cases  in  Constitutional  Law  (2  vols.,  1894-95).  Some  of 
the  more  important  decisions  may  be  found  abridged  in  Allen 
Johnson's  Readings  in  American  Constitutional  History  (1912). 
W.  W.  Willoughby,  The  Supreme  Court:  its  History  and  Influence 
in  our  Constitutional  System  (1890),  and  The  American  Constitu 
tional  System  (1904),  are  interesting  volumes  by  an  authority  on 
constitutional  law.  J.  P.  Kennedy,  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  William 
Wirt  (2  vols.,  1850) ;  G.  J.  McRee,  Life  and  Correspondence  of  James 
Iredell  (2  vols.,  1857-58) ;  W.  W.  Story,  Life  and  Letters  of  Joseph 
Story  (2  vols.,  1851);  and  G.  T.  Curtis,  Life  of  Daniel  Webster  (2 
vols.,  1870),  contribute  to  an  understanding  of  the  relation  of  the 
federal  bench  and  bar.  Especially  valuable  is  Charles  Warren's 
History  of  the  American  Bar,  Colonial  and  Federal,  to  1860  (1911). 
The  progress  of  American  law  is  reviewed  in  Two  Centuries' 
Growth  of  American  Law,  1701-1901,  by  members  of  the  faculty 
of  the  Yale  Law  School. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A   BRIEF   LIST   OF   BOOKS    FOR   THE    STUDY 
OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

1783-1828 

1.  Adams,  Henry.  History  of  the  United  States  (during 

the  Administrations  of  Jeft'erson  and 
Madison).  9  volumes.  New  York, 
1889-91. 

Life  of  Albert  Gallatin.  Philadelphia, 
1879. 

2.  Adams,  J.  Q.    Memoirs.    12  volumes.    Philadelphia, 
1874-77. 

3.  Bassett,  J.  S.  Andiew  Jackson.  2  volumes.  New  York, 
1911. 

4.  Beard,  C.  A.    Economic  Interpretation  of  the  Constitu 

tion  of  the  United  States.  New  York, 
1913. 

Economic  Origins  of  Jeffersonian  Democ 
racy.   New  York,  1915. 

5.  Callender,  Guy  S.    Selections  from  Economic  History 
of  the  United  States,  1765-1800.  New  York,  1909. 

6.  Curtis,  G.  T.  Life  of  Daniel  Webster.  2  volumes.  New 
York,  18G9,  1870. 

7.  De  Tocqueville,  A.  Democracy  in  America.  2  volumes. 
Cambridge,  1862,  1863,  1864. 

8.  Dodd,  W.  E.   Statesmen  of  the  Old  South.   New  York, 
1911. 

9.  Farrand,  Max.  The  Framing  of  the  Constitution.   New 

Haven,  1913. 

(Editor)  Records  of  the  Federal  Con 
vention.  3  volumes.  New  Haven, 
1911. 

10.  Fiske,  John.    The  Critical  Period  of  American  History, 
1783-1789.  Boston,  1888. 


348  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

11.  Hart,  A.  B.    The  American  Nation:  A  History.   New 
York,  1904-07.   (Volumes  x  to  xiv.) 

12.  Hunt,  Gaillard.  John  C.  Calhoun.  Philadelphia,  1008. 

Life  of  James  Madison.    New  York, 
1902. 

13.  Johnson,  Allen.    Readings  in  American  Constitutional 
History.  Boston,  1912. 

14.  Lodge,  H.  C.    George  Washington.    (American  States 
men  Series.)   2  volumes.   Boston,  1889. 

15.  McCaleb,  W.  F.    The  Aaron  Burr  Conspiracy.    New 
York,  1903. 

16.  Mahan,  A.  T.   Sea  Power  in  its  Relation  to  the  War  of 
1812.   2  volumes.  Boston,  1905. 

17.  McMaster,  J.  B.    History  of  the  People  of  the  United 
States  from  the  Revolution  to  the  Civil  War.  8  volumes. 
New  York,  1883-1913.   (Volumes  i  to  v.) 

18.  Merriam,  C.  E.  A  History  of  American  Political  Theo 
ries.  New  York,  1910. 

19.  Morison,  S.  E.   Life  and  Letters  of  H.  G.  Otis.   2  vol 
umes.  Boston,  1913. 

20.  Morse,  J.  T.   John  Adams.  (American  Statesmen  Se 

ries.)   Boston.  1885. 

John  Quincy  Adams.    (American  States 
men  Series.)   Boston,  1882. 

21.  Oliver,  F.  S.  Alexander  Hamilton:  An  Essay  on  Ameri 
can  Union.  London,  1907. 

22.  Ostrogorski,  M.    Democracy  and  the  Party  System  of 
the  United  States.  New  York,  1910. 

23.  Ringwalt,  J.  L.  Development  of  Transportation  Systems 
in  the  United  States.  Philadelphia,  1888. 

24.  Roosevelt,  Theodore.   The  Winning  of  the  West.  4  vol 
umes.  New  York,  1889-96. 

25.  Schurz,  Carl.  Life  of  Henry  Clay.  2  volumes.    (Ameri 
can  Statesmen  Series.)   Boston,  1887. 

26.  Thayer,  J.  B.    John  Marshall.    (Riverside  Biographi 
cal  Series.)   Boston,  1901. 

27.  Wendell,  Barrett.    Literary  History  of  America.    New 
York,  1900. 


INDEX 


Adams,  Abigail,  120,  121. 

Adams,  John,  Minister  to  Eng 
land,  7;  demands  Western 
posts,  17;  on  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution,  41;  elected 
Vice-President,  48;  on  the 
President's  address,  50;  re- 
elected  Vice-President,  67; 
candidate  for  the  Presidency, 
92;  elected  President,  93;  his 
attitude  toward  France,  96; 
appoints  commissioners,  96- 
97;  urges  preparations  for 
war,  98;  sends  X  Y  Z  letters 
to  Congress,  98;  appoints  offi 
cers  of  army,  101-02;  at  odds 
with  Hamilton  faction,  103; 
resumes  relations  with  France, 
103-04;  his  title  to  fame,  104; 
pardons  Fries,  113;  candidate 
for  Presidency  (1800),  116; 
and  federal  judiciary,  121-22; 
presidential  elector  (1820), 
280;  on  European  entangle 
ments,  289-90;  offers  Chief 
Justiceship  to  Jay,  331. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  and  the 
practice  of  law,  20;  on  the 
new  Constitution,  41;  special 
envoy  to  England,  87;  secures 
amendment  of  Jay  Treaty, 
88;  defends  the  embargo,  189; 
resigns  from  Senate,  193; 
commissioner  at  Ghent,  227- 
29;  on  Jackson's  invasion  of 
Florida,  262;  his  reply  to 
Spain,  262-63;  on  recognition 
of  South  American  Republics, 
290-91;  challenges  British 
claims  on  Pacific,  292;  on  fu 
ture  of  Cuba,  292-93;  protests 


Russian  claims  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  293;  advises  against 
joint  declaration  with  Eng 
land,  295;  candidate  for  the 
Presidency  (1824),  308;  favors 
internal  improvements,  310; 
favors  Tariff  of  1824,  312;  his 
electoral  vote  (1824),  312; 
wins  Clay's  following,  313-14; 
elected  President  by  the 
House,  314;  appoints  Clay 
Secretary  of  State,  315;  his 
first  message,  318-19;  and  the 
civil  service,  318-19;  on  the 
Panama  Congress,  320,  321; 
and  the  Creek  Indians,  324- 
26;  and  the  Cherokee  Indians, 
326-27. 

Adet,  French  Minister  to  United 
States,  interferes  in  the  elec 
tion  of  1800,  92-93;  on  Jeffer 
son  as  an  American,  290. 

Agriculture,  American,  126-27. 

Alabama,  admitted  as  a  State, 
251. 

Alien  and  Sedition  Acts,  109; 
petitions  for  the  repeal  of, 
112;  expiration  of,  135. 

Allston,  Washington,  286. 

Ambrister,  Robert  C.,  261-62. 

Amelia  Island,  entrepot  for  neu 
tral  trade,  199;  occupied  by 
the  United  States,  204;  evacu 
ated,  219. 

American  character,  disclosed 
by  the  war,  232-33. 

American  Insurance  Company 
v.  Canter,  341^2. 

American  literature,  want  of, 
283;  from  1815  to  1830,  284. 

Ames,  Fisher,  on  the  heads  of 


11 


INDEX 


departments,   89-90;  on  the 

Republican  opposition,  108; 
on  democracy,  161-02. 

Annapolis  Trade  Convention, 
28. 

Anthology  and  Boston  Review, 
283. 

Anti-Federalists,  and  the  Con 
stitution,  39. 

Appointments,  by  Washington, 
54-55;  by  John  Adams,  122; 
by  Jefferson,  130-31 ;  by  John 
Q.  Adams,  318-19. 

Arbuthnot,  Alexander,  261-62. 

Army,  at  the  establishment  of 
Government,  55;  provisional, 
in  1798,  101-03;  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  War  of  1812,  212; 
after  the  War  of  1812,  241. 

Articles  of  Confederation,  pro 
posed  amendments  to,  6;  in 
adequacy  of,  16-17,  21-24, 
25-27. 

Assumption  of  state  debts, 
58-61. 

Ballou,  Hosea,  288. 

Baltimore,  and  Western  trade, 
254,  256. 

Bancroft,  George,  287. 

Bank  of  the  United  States,  op 
posed  by  Jefferson,  62;  advo 
cated  by  Hamilton,  63;  char 
ter  of,  63;  speculation  in  the 
stock  of,  63-64;  Congress  re 
fuses  to  re-charter,  239 ;  char 
ter  of  the  second,  239-40; 
management  of,  267;  investi 
gation  of,  267;  popular  hostil 
ity  to,  267-68;  taxation  of  the 
branches  of,  268. 

Baptists,  in  New  England,  247; 
in  the  West,  301-02. 

Barbour,  James,  271. 

Baumeler,  Joseph,  246,  302. 

Bayard,  James  A.,  and  the  elec 
tion  of  1801,  118-19;  com 
missioner  at  Ghent,  227. 


Benton,  Thomas  H.,  on  the 
election  of  1825,  315-16. 

Berlin  Decree,  of  Napoleon,  187; 
its  revocation,  200. 

Bible  Society  of  the  United 
States,  301. 

Bladensburg,  battle  of,  222. 

Blennerhassett,  Harman,  and 
Burr,  172-73,  175-76. 

Blockade  of  American  ports  by 
British  cruisers,  181-82,  201, 
218,  233. 

Blount  conspiracy,  97. 

Bonus  Bill,  advocated  by  Cal- 
houn,  257;  vetoed  by  Madi 
son,  257. 

Boone,  Daniel,  14. 

Boston,  as  an  intellectual  and 
literary  center,  287. 

Bowdoin,  Governor  James,  and 
Shays'  Rebellion,  20-21 ;  sug 
gests  convention  of  the  States, 
27. 

Breckenridge,  John,  110. 

Brown,  Jacob,  220. 

Brown,  Moses,  124. 

Bryant,  William  Cullen,  284. 

Burr,  Aaron,  candidate  for  the 
Vice-Presidency  (1796),  92; 
on  politics  in  Connecticut, 
115;  carries  the  city  of  New 
York  (1800),  115-16;  elected 
Vice-President  (1800),  118; 
candidate  for  Governor  of 
New  York,  165;  approached 
by  Federalists,  165-66;  his 
duel  with  Hamilton,  166;  his 
intrigues,  172-73;  his  expedi 
tion,  173-76;  his  arrest  and 
trial,  176-78. 

Cabot,  George,  164. 

Calhoun,  John  C.,  repudiates 
peaceable  coercion,  207;  fav 
ors  Tariff  of  1816,  237;  his 
nationalism,  241-42;  on  con 
stitutional  limitations,  242; 
his  Bonus  Bill,  257;  Secretary 


INDEX 


in 


of  War,  258;  candidate  for  the 
Presidency,  307;  candidate 
for  the  Vice-Presidency,  308; 
elected  Vice-President,  312; 
on  the  Tariff  of  1828,  328-29; 
elaborates  his  defense  of  state 
rights,  345. 

Campbell,  Alexander,  288. 

Canada,  proposed  conquest  of, 
203,  213. 

Canals,  constructed  and  pro 
jected,  in  1825,  255-56. 

Canning,  George,  and  the  Ches 
apeake  affair,  186;  on  the  em 
bargo,  191;  on  British  naval 
losses,  216;  on  intervention, 
292;  overtures  to  Rush,  294; 
on  the  new  doctrine  of  Presi 
dent  Monroe,  296. 

Capital,  location  of  the  national, 
60-61;  removed  from  Phila 
delphia  to  Washington,  119- 
21. 

Caucus,  congressional  (1800), 
116;  (1804),  167;  (1808),  193- 
94;  (1812),  216;  (1816),  243; 
hostility  to,  307,  308;  (1824), 
308. 

legislative,  305. 

Channing,  William  E.,  288. 

Chase,  Samuel,  impeachment  of, 
139-41. 

Cherokee  Indians,  in  Georgia, 
326-27. 

Chesapeake  Bay,  navigation  of, 
27-28;  British  military  opera 
tions  in,  221-23. 

Chesapeake,  United  States  frig 
ate,  and  the  Leopard,  184-86; 
reparation  offered  for,  197; 
avenged,  202;  captured,  218. 

Chippewa,  battle  of,  220. 

Cincinnati.  Society  of  the,  24. 

Civil  service.  See  Appoint 
ments. 

Claiborne,  W.  C.  C.,  Governor 
of  the  Mississippi  Territory, 
reports  withdrawal  of  the 


right  of  deposit,  148;  takes 
possession  of  West  Florida, 
204. 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  and 
Genet,  74-75. 

Clay,  Henry,  his  early  career, 
202-03;  in  the  Senate,  203; 
Speaker  of  the  House,  207; 
commissioner  at  Ghent,  227, 
229;  his  nationalism,  241-42; 
on  the  National  Bank  Bill, 
242;  opposes  the  Florida 
Treaty,  264-65;  on  the  exten 
sion  of  slavery,  270;  on  the 
admission  of  Missouri,  279; 
on  the  counting  of  the  elec 
toral  vote  (1820),  280;  advo 
cates  an  American  system, 
289;  candidate  for  the  Presi 
dency  (1824),  307-08;  on  in 
ternal  improvements,  309-10; 
urges  a  protective  tariff,  310; 
favors  the  Tariff  of  1824,  312; 
his  electoral  vote  (1824),  312; 
and  Jackson,  313,  314,  315; 
and  Crawford,  313;  and 
Adams,  313-14;  accepts  Sec 
retaryship  of  State,  314;  de 
nies  corrupt-bargain  charge, 
313-15;  favors  Panama  Con 
gress,  320;  on  the  status  of 
Cuba,  321. 

Clinton,  De  Writt,  nominated  for 
the  Presidency  (1812),  216; 
promotes  the  Erie  Canal, 
255-56. 

Clinton,  George,  candidate  for 
Vice-Presidency  (1792),  67; 
elected  Vice-President  (1804), 
167;  candidate  for  the  Presi 
dency  (1808),  194. 

Cohens  v.  Virginia,  336-37. 

Colonization  Society,  272. 

Commerce,  foreign,  during  the 
Revolution,  2;  restrictions 
upon,  3,  7;  power  to  regulate, 
34;  revival  of,  46-47;  aggres 
sions  on,  76-77,  86-87;  and 


iv 


INDEX 


Jay's  Treaty,  85-87;  Missis 
sippi  opened  to,  87;  during 
European  wars,  124,  179-80; 
during  the  War  of  1812,  233; 
after  the  Treaty  of  Ghent, 
233-34. 

internal,  between  South  and 
Northwest,  252-53;  along  the 
Mississippi,  253-54;  between 
East  and  other  sections, 
254-56. 

Commonwealth  v.  Caton,  19. 

Compromises  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  33-35. 

Congress,  of  the  Confederation, 
and  finance,  5-6;  perigrina- 
tions  of,  6;  and  foreign  com 
merce,  7-8;  and  the  public 
domain,  8;  organizes  the 
Northwest  Territory,  10-12; 
and  the  State  of  Franklin,  15; 
and  Shays'  Rebellion,  21-22; 
and  the  Annapolis  Conven 
tion,  28-29;  and  the  new 
Constitution,  38,  44. 

of  the  new  Union,  elections 
to,  44;  assembles,  47;  organ 
izes,  48;  attends  the  counting 
of  the  electoral  vote,  48;  hears 
the  inaugural  address,  48,  49; 
enters  upon  its  duties,  50. 

Connecticut,  favors  the  open 
door,  8;  ratifies  the  Constitu 
tion,  41;  refuses  call  for  mili 
tia,  213;  and  the  Hartford 
Convention,  224;  adopts  a 
new  Constitution,  304;  suf 
frage  in,  304;  authorizes  first 
law  reports,  332. 

Connecticut  Wits,  the,  123. 

Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  drafting  of,  30-35; 
publication  of,  35-38;  ratifica 
tion  of,  39-43;  voting  on,  43- 
44;  first  amendments  to,  55; 
Twelfth  Amendment  to,  166- 
67;  judicial  interpretation  of, 
331-45. 


Constitution,  United  States  frig 
ate,  captures  L'Insurgente, 
101;  capture  the  Guerriere, 
215;  captures  the  Java,  216. 

Constitutions,  of  new  States, 
303-04;  of  the  old  States, 
304-05. 

Convention  of  1787,  origin,  28- 
29;  choice  of  delegates  to,  29; 
proceedings  of,  30-38;  journal 
of,  30;  its  work,  35-36. 

Cooper,  J.  Fenimore,  285. 

Corrupt-bargain  cry,  in  1825, 
313-15. 

Cotton  gin,  invention  of,  127; 
effect  of,  127-28. 

Cotton-growing,  spread  of,  127, 
249-51. 

Cotton  manufacturing,  begin 
nings  of,  124;  after  the  em 
bargo,  234-35 ;  after  the  Peace 
of  Ghent,  235-36. 

Court  reports,  first  published, 
332. 

Courts,  federal.  See  Federal 
judiciary,  Judiciary  Act,  etc. 

Crawford,  William  H.,  candi 
date  for  presidential  nomina 
tion  (1816),  243-44;  nomi 
nated  for  the  Presidency 
(1824),  308;  on  internal  im 
provements,  310;  on  the  Tar 
iff  of  1824,  312;  his  electoral 
vote  (1824),  312;  his  vote  in 
the  election  by  the  House, 
314. 

Creek  Indians,  rising  of,  219; 
capitulation  of,  220;  in  East 
Florida,  260;  lands  in  Georgia, 
324-26. 

Crisis  of  1819,  266-67. 

Cuba,  interest  of  the  United 
States  in,  293,  321. 

Cumberland  Road.  See  Na- 
tional  Road. 

Currency,  under  the  Confeder 
ation,  5;  after  the  War  of 
1812,  238-39,  240-41. 


INDEX 


Gushing,  William,  54. 
Cutler,  Manasseh,  11-12. 

Dallas,  A.  J.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  the  tariff,  237- 
38;  and  the  new  National 
Bank,  241. 

Dartmouth  College  Case,  342- 
43. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  father  of,  249. 

Dearborn,  Henry,  Secretary  of 
War,  130-31;  in  the  War  of 
1812,  213,  218. 

Decatur,  Stephen,  145,  215. 

Delaware,  instructs  delegates  to 
the  Federal  Convention,  30; 
ratifies  the  Constitution,  41. 

Democracy  in  the  United  States, 
298-301,  303-07. 

Democratic  societies,  founded, 
75;  condemned  by  Washing 
ton,  83-84. 

Demos  Krateo  principle,  315-16. 

Dennie,  Joseph,  283. 

Departments,  executive,  or 
ganized,  51-52;  Fisher  Ames 
on,  89-90. 

Deposit,  right  of,  at  New  Or 
leans,  87;  withdrawn,  148. 

Detroit,  surrender  of,  214. 

Dorchester,  Lord,  Governor  of 
Canada,  68,  78-79. 

Duties  on  imports,  proposed  in 
1781,  1783,  6. 

Dwight,  Timothy,  his  Conquest 
of  Canaan,  123;  on  the  back- 
country  people,  247. 

East  Florida,  revolution  in,  204; 
occupied  by  United  States, 
204;  rendezvous,  259-60;  in 
vaded  by  Jackson,  260-62. 

Ellsworth,' Oliver,  53-54. 

Embargo  Act,  of  179 {,  79;  of 
1807,  188-89;  enforcement  of, 
190-91,  194-95;  as  a  coercive 
weapon,  190,  192;  effect  of, 
191-93;  in  New  England,  193, 


195;  repeal  of,  196;  of  1812, 
209. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  287. 

Emigration,  from  New  England, 
247-48;  from  the  Middle 
States,  248;  from  the  South, 
249. 

Era  of  Good  Feelings,  266. 

Erie  Canal,  construction  of, 
255-56. 

Erskine,  D.  M.,  British  Minister 
to  the  United  States,  197. 

Essex,  case  of  the,  180. 

Essex  Junto,  164,  193,  224. 

Everett,  Edward,  287. 

Executive  Departments,  estab 
lishment  of,  51-52. 

Fallen  Timber,  battle  of,  80- 
81. 

Far  West,  258-59. 

Fauchet,  J.  A.  J.,  succeeds 
Genet,  76;  urges  acquisition 
of  Louisiana,  91. 

Fearon,  Henry  B.,  247,  248. 

Federal  Convention  of  1787. 
See  Convention  of  1787. 

Federalist,  the,  43. 

Federalist  party,  origin  of,  39- 
40.  See  also  Presidential 
elections. 

Finances,  of  the  Confederation, 
5-6;  of  the  new  Government, 
50-51,  56-64. 

Fiscal  administration,  begin 
nings  of  national,  51. 

Fisheries,  discussed  at  Ghent, 
229;  in  the  Convention  of 
1818,  259. 

Fletcher  v.  Peck,  170,  342. 

Floridas,  controversy  over  the 
boundaries  of,  16,  68;  north 
ern  boundary  settled,  87;  pro 
posed  purchase  of,  148;  and 
the  province  of  Louisiana, 
151, 158-59;  sought  by  Jeffer 
son,  170-71;  acquisition  of, 
264. 


VI 


INDEX 


Florida  Treaty,  264-65. 

Foreign-born  in  the  United 
States,  245^6. 

Foster,  A.  J.,  British  Minister 
to  the  United  States,  201. 

France,  concessions  to  American 
commerce,  46;  covets  Spanish 
colonies,  70-71;  sends  Genet 
to  United  States,  71-72;  de 
mands  rights  under  treaties 
of  1778,  72-73;  substitutes 
Fauchet  for  Genet,  76;  opens 
colonies  to  neutral  trade,  76- 
77;  attempts  to  procure 
Louisiana,  91;  offended  at 
Jay's  Treaty,  92-93;  refuses 
to  receive  Pinckney,  95;  the 
X  Y  Z  affair,  98-99;  involved 
in  hostilities  with  United 
States,  101;  convention  of 
1800,  104,  146;  acquires 
Louisiana,  146;  expedition 
against  Santo  Domingo,  146- 
47;  cedes  Louisiana  to  United 
States,  149,  150;  continental 
system,  187-88;  and  the  em 
bargo,  191-92;  sequesters 
American  vessels,  199-200; 
withdraws  decrees,  200. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  in  the 
Convention  of  1787,  30,  32. 

Franklin,  State  of,  15. 

French  Revolution,  influence  on 
America,  72. 

Freneau,  Philip,  65-66,  123. 

Fries  Rebellion,  113. 

Fulton,  Robert,  232. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  Representa 
tive,  89;  on  the  treaty-making 
power,  90-91;  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  130;  his  pol 
icy  of  retrenchment,  132-33; 
and  the  Mediterranean  Fund, 
144;  urges  enforcement  of  the 
embargo,  194;  recommends 
war  taxes,  208;  commissioner 
at  Ghent,  227,  229;  and  the 


Convention  of  1818,  259;  on 
equality  in  Pennsylvania,  300. 

Gardoqui,  Don  Diego  de,  Span 
ish  Minister  to  United  States, 
16. 

Genet,  E.  C.,  French  Minister 
to  United  States,  71-72;  de 
signs  on  Florida  and  Louisi 
ana,  73;  sets  up  prize  courts, 
73-74;  revolutionary  activi 
ties,  73-75;  discredited,  76; 
recalled,  76. 

Georgia,  ratifies  the  Constitu 
tion,  41;  and  the  Yazoo  land 
grants,  168-70;  and  the  Creek 
Indians,  324;  protests  against 
the  Treaty  of  Washington, 
325;  and  the  Indian  lands, 
325-26;  protests  against  the 
tariff,  327 ; 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  commissioner 
to  France,  96;  and  the  X  Y  Z 
affair,  98-100;  elected  Vice- 
President  (1812),  216. 

Ghent,  Treaty  of,  preliminary 
negotiations,  227-29;  terms 
of,  229-30. 

Gibbons  v.  Ogden,  343-15. 

Giles,  William,  resolution  cen 
suring  Hamilton,  66;  on  the 
reform  of  the  judiciary,  134- 
35;  on  impeachment,  140. 

Gray,  Captain  Robert,  of  the 
Columbia,  47. 

Great  Britain,  imposes  restric 
tion  on  American  commerce, 
3;  refuses  commercial  treaty, 
7;  retains  Western  posts,  7; 
Nootka  Sound  affair,  69;  pol 
icy  in  the  Northwest,  68-70; 
and  the  Rule  of  1756,  76-77; 
preys  on  neutral  commerce, 
77-78;  and  the  Jay  Treaty, 
84-88;  and  the  Blount  con 
spiracy,  97;  and  the  case  of 
the  Essex,  180;  exercises  right 
of  search,  182;  condones  im 
pressment,  182;  evades  repar- 


INDEX 


Vll 


ation  for  the  Chesapeake  af 
fair,  186;  demands  recall  of 
proclamation,  186;  retaliates 
for  French  decrees,  188;  and 
the  embargo,  191;  repudiates 
Erskine  Treaty,  197;  recalls 
Jackson,  198;  and  the  with 
drawal  of  French  decrees,  200; 
offers  reparation  for  the  Ches 
apeake  affair,  201;  blockades 
New  York,  201 ;  incurs  Ameri 
can  hostility,  208-10;  with 
draws  orders  in  council,  210; 
and  the  War  of  1812,  212-30; 
declines  Russian  mediation, 
227;  negotiates  for  peace,  227; 
concludes  Treaty  of  Ghent, 
228-29;  concludes  Conven 
tion  of  .1818,  259;  aroused  by 
Jackson's  Florida  campaign, 
262;  and  the  European  con 
gresses,  291;  protests  against 
intervention,  292;  overtures 
to  the  United  States,  292-94. 

Green  v.  Diddle,  340. 

Greenville,  Treaty  of,  87;  disre 
garded  by  settlers,  205. 

Grenville,  Lord,  negotiates  with 
Jay,  79,  85. 

Griswold,  Roger,  on  the  treaty- 
making  power,  90;  and  the 
project  of  a  New  England 
confederacy,  164;  on  the  office 
of  Vice-President,  167. 

Grundy,  Felix,  207. 

Guerriere,  British  frigate,  202, 
215. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  defends 
Waddington,  4;  drafts  An 
napolis  report,  28;  on  the  op 
position  to  the  Constitution, 
41;  contributes  to  the  Feder 
alist  papers,  43;  and  the  bill  to 
establish  the  Treasury  De 
partment,  52;  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  54;  first  Report  on 
the  Public  Credit,  50-60; 


alleged  deal  with  Jefferson, 
61-62;  second  Report,  61-62; 
on  the  National  Bank  Bill, 
62-63;  on  the  French  treaties, 
73;  defends  Jay's  Treaty,  86; 
retires  from  the  Treasury,  89; 
and  the  Presidency,  92;  ad 
vises  recall  of  Monroe,  95; 
major-general,  102;  urges  en 
forcement  of  Alien  Act,  113; 
hostility  to  John  Adams,  116; 
opposes  Federalist  alliance 
with  Burr,  165;  duel  with 
Burr,  166. 

Hard  times,  under  the  Confed 
eration,  2-3;  in  1819-20,  268- 
69. 

Harmar,  Fort,  seat  of  govern 
ment  in  the  Northwest,  14. 

Harrisburg  Convention,  327-28. 

Harrison,  William  Henry,  con 
cludes  Indian  treaties,  205- 
06;  wins  battle  of  Tippecanoe, 
206;  in  the  War  of  1812, 
217-18. 

Hartford  Convention,  origin  of, 
224-25;  journal  of,  225; 
report  of,  225-27. 

Harvard  College,  287. 

Hayne,  Robert  Y.,  on  the  Pan 
ama  Mission,  322-23. 

Henry  of  Prussia,  Prince,  and 
the  regency  of  the  United 
States,  24. 

Hicks,  Elias,  288. 

Holy  Alliance,  designs  of  the  so- 
called,  291. 

Hopkinson,  Joseph,  101. 

Horseshoe  Bend,  battle  of,  220. 

Hudson's  Bay  Company,  259. 

Hull,  Captain  Isaac,  captures 
the  Guerriere,  215. 

Hull,  General  William,  surren 
ders  Detroit,  214. 

Ildefonso,  Treaty  of,  146. 
Illinois,  settlement  of,  248;  ad 
mitted  as  a  State,  251. 


vm 


INDEX 


Immigration  into  the  United 
States,  245. 

Impeachment,  of  Senator 
Blount,  97;  of  Judge  Picker 
ing,  138-39;  of  Justice  Chase, 
139-41. 

Impressment  of  American  sea 
men,  in  1793-94,  77-78;  not 
mentioned  in  the  Jay  Treaty, 
84-85;  condoned  by  the  Brit 
ish  Admiralty,  182;  deeply 
resented  in  United  States  in 
180G,  183;  abolition  demanded 
by  Monroe,  186;  as  a  cause  of 
the  War  of  1812,  209;  in  the 
negotiations  at  Ghent,  228; 
and  the  Treaty  of  Ghent, 
229-30. 

Imprisonment  for  debt,  269. 

Indiana,  settlement  of,  245; 
admitted  as  a  State,  251. 

Indian  Treaties  in  the  North 
west,  205-06. 

Industry,  during  the  Revolu 
tion,  2;  revival  of,  47;  protec 
tion  of,  in  the  tariff  of  1789, 
51;  growth  of,  124.  See  also 
special  industries,  and  Tariff 
Acts. 

Ingersoll,  Jared,  216. 

Internal  improvements,  popu 
lar  demand  for,  255;  carried 
on  by  States,  255-56;  pro 
posed  by  Gallatin  in  1806,  256; 
Calhoun's  Bonus  Bill,  257; 
Madison  on,  257;  Monroe  on, 
258;  in  Congress,  258,  309; 
Survey  Bill,  309. 

Intervention  of  the  Great  Pow 
ers,  in  Italy,  292;  in  Spain, 
292. 

Irving,  Washington,  284,  285. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  wins  battle  of 
Horseshoe  Bend,  220;  con 
cludes  treaty  with  the  Creeks, 
220;  wins  the  battle  of  New 
Orleans,  227;  invades  East 


Florida,  261-62;  on  prece 
dent,  268;  on  rotation  in 
office,  304;  candidate  for  the 
Presidency  (1824),  307-08; 
favors  Survey  Bill,  310;  favors 
protective  policy,  312;  his 
electoral  vote  (1824),  312;  his 
vote  in  the  House  election, 
314;  and  Clay,  315;  signifi 
cance  of  his  popular  vote, 
316;  candidate  for  the  Presi 
dency  (1828),  318. 

Jackson,  F.  J.,  British  Minister 
to  United  States,  198. 

Jacobinism,  107,  114, 161. 

Jay,  John,  diplomatic  agent  of 
United  States,  16;  contrib 
utes  to  the  Federalist  papers, 
43;  appointed  Chief  Justice, 
54;  envoy  extraordinary  to 
England,  79;  drafts  treaty, 
84;  declines  appointment  as 
Chief  Justice,  331-32. 

Jay  Treaty,  negotiated,  84; 
discussed  in  Senate,  84-85; 
evaluation  of,  85-86;  popular 
opinion  of,  86;  amended  in 
Senate,  86-87;  promulgated 
by  President,  88;  debated  in 
the  House,  90-91 ;  gives  offense 
to  France,  92-93. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  Ordinance  of 
1784,  8;  Secretary  of  State, 
54;  on  speculation  in  govern 
ment  paper,  58;  on  assump 
tion,  60-61;  on  the  excise,  62; 
on  the  Bank  Bill,  62-63;  his 
distrust  of  Hamilton,  64 ;  fears 
British  designs  on  Louisiana, 
69;  on  the  French  treaties,  73; 
proposes  retaliatory  legisla 
tion  against  England,  7S; 
candidate  for  the  Presidency 
(1796),  92;  elected  Vice- 
President,  93;  on  war  mes 
sage  of  Adams,  98;  drafts 
Kentucky  Resolutions,  110; 
candidate  for  the  Presidency 


INDEX 


(1800),  110;  directs  political 
campaign  of  1800,  112;  elec 
ted  President,  118;  on  the 
Revolution  of  1800,  119;  per 
sonal  appearance,  128;  on 
husbandry,  128;  on  commerce 
and  coercion,  129;  inaugural 
address,  129-30;  on  the  work 
of  the  general  Government, 
130;  and  the  patronage,  131- 
33;  mastery  of  Congress,  132, 
133-34;  on  retrenchment, 
132-33;  on  the  judiciary,  134- 
35, 141,  331 ;  on  impeachment, 
141;  on  the  navy,  143;  on  the 
retrocession  of  Louisiana,  147; 
instructions  to  Livingston, 
148;  his  information  about 
Louisiana,  152;  authorizes 
Lewis  and  Clark  expedition, 
152;  on  the  acquisition  of 
Louisiana,  153-54;  on  New 
England  Federalism,  162-63; 
reflected  President  (1804), 
167;  attempts  to  acquire  the 
Floridas,  170-71;  his  procla 
mation  against  Burr,  175; 
sends  Pinkney  to  England, 
181;  and  the  Chesapeake  af 
fair,  186;  recommends  em 
bargo,  190;  abdicates,  194; 
favors  protection  of  manu 
factures,  236;  on  Canning's 
overtures,  294;  on  internal 
improvements,  319. 

Johnson,  R.  M.,  271. 

Judicial  review,  power  of,  4,  19, 
137-38. 

Judiciary  Act,  of  1789,  passed, 
53-54;  tested,  335-37;  of 
1801,  passed,  121-22;  re 
pealed,  134-35. 

Judiciary,  federal,  organized, 
53-54';  reorganized,  121-22; 
and  Republican  reforms,  134- 
35;  feared  by  Jefferson,  331; 
influence  in  1800,  331-32; 
controversy  with  Pennsylva 


nia,  333-35;  controversy  with 
Virginia,  336-37,  338-39;  ex 
pands  the  Constitution,  341- 
45;  nationalizing  influence, 
345. 

Kent,  James,  on  universal 
suffrage,  305 ;  his  appointment 
to  the  Supreme  Court  urged, 
345. 

Kentucky,  separatist  movement 
in,  16;  admitted  as  a  State, 
55;  intrigues  in,  68;  radical 
legislation  in,  268;  protests 
against  the  decision  of  court 
in  Green  v.  Diddle,  340. 

King,  Rufus,  candidate  for  the 
Vice-Presidency,  167,  194; 
elected  Vice-President,  244; 
on  slavery  in  Missouri,  277. 

Kirby,  Ephraim,  332. 

Knox,  Henry,  refuses  to  serve  in 
the  provisional  army,  10;  Sec 
retary  of  War,  22,  55;  and 
Shays'  Rebellion,  22. 

Kremer,  George,  314. 

L'Ambuscade,    French    frigate, 

74. 

Land  Act  of  1820,  269. 
Land  Ordinance  of  1785,  10. 
Lands,   disposal  of  the  public, 

10-12,  269-70. 

Latrobe,  Benjamin  H.,  123,  236. 
Leander,    British    frigate,   181- 

82. 
Leclerc,      V.      E.,      expedition 

against  Santo  Domingo,  146- 

47, 149. 
Lee,  Henry,  and  the  Whiskey 

Insurrection,  83. 
Leopard-Chesapeake          affair, 

184-86. 
Lewis    and    Clark    expedition, 

152-53. 
Lincoln,    Abraham,    father    of, 

249;  education  of,  303. 
Lincoln,  Levi,  130-31. 


INDEX 


L'Insurgente,  French  frigate, 
101. 

Little  Belt,  British  sloop-of- 
war,  202. 

Little  Sarah  affair,  75. 

Livingston,  Robert,  Minister  to 
France,  148-49;  negotiates 
for  Louisiana,  150-51;  on  the 
bounds  of  Louisiana,  151, 
158-59. 

Louisiana,  Spanish  province, 
threatened  by  France,  71; 
retroceded  to  France,  146; 
acquired  by  the  United  States, 
149-51;  Senate  opposition  to, 
155-56;  provision  for  the  gov 
ernment  of,  156-58;  transfer 
of,  157;  bounds  of,  158-59; 
western  boundary  settled, 
264. 

Lowndes,  William,  307. 

Lundy's  Lane,  battle  of,  220. 

Lyon,  Matthew,  prosecution  of, 
110. 

M'Culloch  v.  Maryland,  268, 
337-38. 

Macdonough,  Thomas,  wins 
battle  of  Plattsburg,  221-22. 

McHenry,  James,  Secretary  of 
War,  101,  103. 

Maclay,  \Villiam,  on  the  Presi 
dent's  address,  50;  on  the 
Judiciary  Act,  54. 

Macon  bills,  199. 

Macon,  Nathaniel,  Speaker  of 
the  House,  133-34;  on  non- 
intercourse,  199. 

Madison,  James,  on  affairs  in 
Georgia,  7;  on  state  jealousies, 
8;  in  the  Federal  Conven 
tion,  29-30;  contributes  to 
the  Federalist  papers,  43;  pro 
poses  constitutional  amend 
ments,  55;  on  stock-jobbing, 
63-64;  on  Hamilton's  finan 
cial  policy,  64;  proposes  retal 
iatory  legislation  (1793),  78; 


drafts  Virginia  Resolutions, 
110-11;  Secretary  of  State, 
130;  on  the  Yazoo  commis 
sion,  169;  favors  peaceable 
coercion,  180-81 ;  on  impress 
ments,  186;  and  George  Rose, 
187;  elected  President,  194; 
and  Erskine,  197;  and  Jack 
son,  198;  issues  proclamation 
against  England,  200;  au 
thorizes  occupation  of  West 
Florida,  204;  and  the  war 
party,  208-09;  recommends 
an  embargo,  209 ;  his  war  mes 
sage,  209-10;  his  proclama 
tion  of  war,  210;  reflected 
President  (1812),  216-17;  and 
New  England,  223,  225;  his 
estimate  of  the  war,  231-32; 
favors  mild  protection  of 
industries,  236;  vetoes  Bank 
Bill,  239;  signs  second  Bank 
Bill,  239;  message  of  1815, 
241;  his  farewell  address,  243, 
257;  on  Canning's  overtures, 
294.  ^ 

Magazines  as  literature,  1815- 
30,  284. 

Mahan,  Admiral  A.  T.,  on  the 
War  of  1812,  231. 

Maine,  the  admission  of,  275- 
77;  suffrage  in,  304. 

Malbone,  Edward  G.,  286. 

Manufactures,  beginnings  of,  46, 
124.  See  special  industries. 

Marbury  v.  Madison,  case  of, 
136-37;  constitutional  im 
portance  of,  333. 

Marietta,  founding  of,  13. 

Marshall,  John,  on  the  Consti 
tution  as  the  expression  of  the 
will  of  the  people,  43;  com 
missioner  to  France,  96;  and 
the  X  Y  Z  affair,  98-100;  ap 
pointed  Chief  Justice,  136; 
and  Jefferson,  136;  opinion  in 
Marbury  v.  Madison,  136-37, 
333;  at  the  trial  of  Burr,  177- 


INDEX 


XI 


78;  influence  of,  332-33; 
opinion  in  United  States  v. 
Peters,  334;  opinion  in  Cohens 
r.  Virginia,  33(5-37;  opinion  in 
M'Culloch  v.  Maryland,  337- 
38;  opinion  in  United  States  v. 
Fisher,  338;  opinion  in  Ameri 
can  Insurance  Company  v. 
Canter,  341-42;  opinion  in 
Fletcher  v.  Peck,  342;  opinion 
in  Dartmouth  College  Case, 
342-43;  opinion  in  Gibbons  v. 
Ogden,  343-45. 

Martin,  Luther,  18,  177. 

Martin  v.  Hunter's  Lessee, 
335-36. 

Maryland,  commercial  differ 
ences  with  Virginia,  27-28; 
ratifies  the  Constitution,  41; 
taxes  branch  bank,  337. 

Mason,  George,  34. 

Massachusetts,  disorders  in,  19- 
20;  Shays'  Rebellion,  20-22; 
ratifies  the  Constitution,  41; 
refuses  call  for  militia,  213; 
calls  Hartford  Convention, 
224;  dispatches  commission 
ers  to  Washington,  227; 
suffrage  in,  305. 

Mediterranean  Fund,  144. 

Methodism,  in  New  England, 
247;  in  the  West,  301-02. 

Metternich,  Prince,  and  the 
Holy  Alliance,  291-92. 

Migration,  inter-state,  after  the 
Revolution,  13-14;  after  the 
War  of  1812,  246-47. 

Milan  Decree,  issued  by  Napo 
leon,  188;  withdrawn,  200. 

Militia  question,  in  Massachu 
setts,  213,  223. 

Miranda,  Francisco,  70. 

Missionary  enterprises,  288. 

Mississippi,  admitted  as  a  State, 
25;  suffrage  in,  303. 

Mississippi  River,  navigation  of, 
16,  87,  229. 

Missouri,  admission  as  a  State, 


277,  279;  electoral  vote  in 
1820,  280. 

Missouri  Compromise,  the,  277. 

Missouri  controversy,  political 
aspects,  274-75;  and  public 
opinion,  275;  constitutional 
aspects,  276-77;  settlement, 
277,  279. 

Monroe,  James,  Minister  to 
France,  94-95;  recalled,  95; 
and  the  purchase  of  Louisiana, 
149-50;  Minister  to  Eng 
land,  183-84;  candidate  for 
the  Presidency  (1808),  194; 
elected  President  (1816),  244; 
on  internal  improvements, 
258;  and  General  Jackson, 
260-63;  reflected  President 
(1820),  280;  on  recognition  of 
South  American  republios, 
290;  on  Canning's  overtures, 
294;  re-drafts  message,  295; 
message  of  1823,  295-96; 
vetoes  Cumberland  Road  Bill, 
309;  pardons  Pennsylvania 
militiamen,  334-35. 

Monroe  Doctrine,  genesis  of, 
289-95;  in  the  President's 
message,  295-96;  Canning  on, 
296;  implications  of,  296-97, 
322. 

Moore,  Thomas,  on  American 
letters,  123. 

Morfontaine,  Treaty  of,  104, 
146. 

Mormonism,  rise  of,  302. 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  in  Federal 
Convention,  35-36;  on  the 
Constitution,  331. 

Morris,  Robert,  Superintendent 
of  Finance,  5. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  concludes 
convention  with  United 
States,  146;  acquires  Louisi 
ana,  146;  sends  Leclerc 
against  Santo  Domingo,  146; 
sells  Louisiana  to  United 


Xll 


INDEX 


States,  149-50;  his  Berlin 
Decree,  187;  his  Milan  De 
cree,  188;  sequesters  American 
vessels,  189-200;  and  the  em 
bargo,  191-92 ;  revokes  de 
crees,  200. 

National  Gazette,  Republican 
newspaper,  65. 

National  Road,  construction  of, 
256;  appropriations  for,  258; 
bill  for  collection  of  tolls  on, 
309. 

Naturalization  Act,  of  1798, 
109;  of  1801,  135-36. 

Navigation  laws,  want  of  power 
in  Congress  to  pass,  7;  of 
the  States,  8;  passed  by  Con 
gress  (1789),  51;  and  ship 
ping,  124. 

Navy  of  the  United  States,  in 
1798-99, 101 ;  under  Jefferson, 
133;  in  Tripolitan  War,  144- 
45;  in  the  War  of  1812,  212- 
30,  passim. 

Navy  Department,  established, 
101. 

Neutrality,  proclamation  of, 
72-73. 

Neutral  trade.  See  Commerce. 

New  England  Confederacy,  pro 
jected  in  1804,  163-66. 

New  England  Federalism,  char 
acteristics  of,  161-63;  and  the 
embargo,  192-93,  195-96. 

New  Hampshire,  ratifies  the 
Constitution,  41;  on  assump 
tion,  60;  and  the  Hartford 
Convention,  224. 

New  Jersey,  and  its  neighbors 
under  the  Confederation,  8; 
ratifies  the  Constitution,  41. 

New  Orleans,  battle  of,  227. 

Newspapers,  character  of,  in 
1800,  107,  110,  112;  founding 
of,  112. 

New  York,  treatment  of  the 
Tories  in,  4;  ratifies  the  Con 
stitution,  42-43;  settlement 


of  western,  248;  constitution 
of  1821,  304-05. 

New  York  City,  and  Western 
trade,  255-56;  as  a  literary 
center,  286. 

Nicholson,  Joseph,  and  the  im 
peachment  of  Pickering,  139; 
on  the  nature  of  impeachable 
offenses,  140. 

Nominating  methods,  changes 
in,  305,  307,  308. 

Non-Importation  Act  of  1806, 
181,  188. 

Non-Intercourse  Act  of  1809, 
196;  evasions  of,  198-99;  en 
forcement  of,  198-99;  revived 
against  England,  201. 

Nootka  Sound  affair,  69. 

North  American  Review,  founded 
283-84. 

North  Carolina,  and  the  Wa- 
tauga  settlers,  14-15;  rejects 
the  Constitution,  44;  ratifies 
the  Constitution,  55. 

Northwest,  receives  settlers 
from  New  England,  13-14, 
247;  from  the  Middle  States, 
248;  from  the  South,  248-49; 
commerce  of,  252-54. 

Ohio  Company,  origin  of,  10-11 ; 

concessions    of    Congress  to, 

11-12;  begins  colonization,  13. 
Ohio,  taxes  branch  Bank  of  the 

United    States,    268;    seizes 

funds,   340;  forced  to  make 

restitution,  341. 
Olmstead,  Gideon,  claimant  in 

federal  courts,  333-34. 
Onis,  Luis  de,  Spanish  Minister 

to  the  United  States,  262-64. 
Orders  in  council,  of  1783,  3;  oj 

1793-94,  77-78;  of  1807,  188; 

withdrawal  in  1812,  210. 
Ordinance  of  1784,   9;  of  1785, 

I0;ofl787,  12-13. 
Oregon,  joint  occupation  of,  259. 
Otis,  Harrison  Gray,  225. 


INDEX 


xni 


Palfrey,  John  G.,  287. 

Panama,  Congress,  invitation 
to,  320-21 ;  opposition  ir 
Congress  to,  322-23;  fate  01 
the  mission,  323. 

Paper  money,  continental,  5 
state,  17-18. 

Paris,  Treaty  of,  aftermath  of 
1-2. 

Parsons,  Samuel,  11. 

Party,  deprecated  by  Washing 
ton,  108;  identified  with  fac 
tion,  108-09;  rights  of,  in 
opposition,  114;  place  of,  in 
popular  government,  119. 

Party  organization,  107,  305 
307. 

Pasha  of  Tripoli,  143,  145. 

Paterson,  William,  in  the  Fed 
eral  Convention,  31-32. 

Patronage.  See  Appointments. 

Pennsylvania,  and  the  Federal 
judiciary,  333-35. 

Perry,  Oliver  H.,  wins  naval 
supremacy  of  Lake  Erie,  217 

Philadelphia,  as  the  seat  of 
government,  119-20;  as  a  lit 
erary  center,  123;  and  West 
ern  trade,  254,  256. 

Pickering,  John,  impeachment 
of,  138-39. 

Pickering,  Timothy,  Secretary 
of  State,  103,  113;  on  the 
Louisiana  Treaty,  150;  plots  a 
New  England  confederacy, 
164;  opposes  the  embargo, 
193;  secessionist  in  1814,  225. 

Pike,  Zebulon  M.,  expeditions 
of,  153. 

Pinckney,  Charles,  and  the  elec 
tion  of  1800,  117. 

Pinckney,  Charles  C.,  Minister 
to  France,  95;  commissioner 
to  France,  96;  and  the  X  Y  Z 
affair,  98-99;  appointed 
major-general,  102;  candi 
date  for  the  Vice-Presidency 
(1800),  116;  candidate  for  the 


Presidency  (1804),  167;  can 
didate  for  the  Presidency 
(1808),  194. 

Pinckney,  Thomas,  concludes 
Treaty  of  San  Lorenzo,  87; 
candidate  for  the  Vice-Presi 
dency  (1800),  92-93. 
Pinkney,  William,  Envoy  to 
England,  181;  negotiates 
treaty,  184;  takes  abrupt 
leave,  201;  on  the  admission 
of  Missouri,  276-77;  influence 
at  the  federal  bar,  333. 
Pittsburg,  distributing  center  in 

the  West,  254. 

Plattsburg,  battle  of,  221-22. 
Port  Folio,  Dennie's,  283. 
Postal  service  in  1800,  106. 
Posts,  retention  of  Western,  17, 

68,  79,  84. 

Potomac,  navigation  of,  16,  27- 
28;  location  of  the  capital  on, 
60-61. 
Preble,  Edward,  and  the  Tripol- 

itan  War,  145. 
Prescott,  William  H.,  287. 
Presidency,  created  in  the  Fed 
eral  Convention,  34-35. 
President,    appointing   and   re 
moving  power  of,  52. 
President,     American     frigate, 

202. 

Presidential  elections,  of  1788, 
48;  of  1792,  66-67;  of  1796, 
92-94;  of  1800,  115-17;  of 
1801,  118-19;  of  1804,  167:  of 
1808, 193-94;  of  1812,  216-17; 
of  1816,  243-44;  of  1820,  280; 
of  1824,  312-13,  316;  of  1825, 
314. 

Prevost,  Sir  George,  221-22. 
Privateers,  in  the  War  of  1812, 

218-19. 

Prophet,  the,  205. 
Public  domain,  origin  of,  8. 

Quids,   followers  of  Randolph, 
170. 


XIV 


INDEX 


Rambouillet,  decree  of,  199- 
200. 

Randolph,  Edmund,  in  the  Fed 
eral  Convention,  30-31;  At 
torney-General,  55;  on  the 
French  treaties  of  1778,  73. 

Randolph,  John,  position  in  the 
House,  134;  in  the  Chase  im-  | 
peachment,  139-41;  and  the  I 
Yazoo    controversy,    169-70;  j 
and  the  purchase  of  Florida, 
171;    and    the  indictment  of 
Burr,  177;  derides  the  Non- 
Importation  Bill,  181;  on  the 
cause  of  the  War  of  1812,  213; 
on  the  Tariff  of  1816,  237;  on 
state  rights,  243;  on  the  Tariff 
of  1828,  330. 

Rapp,  George,  302. 

Relief  Act  of  1821,  269. 

Republican  court  at  Philadel 
phia,  119-20. 

Republican  party,  origin  of,  64- 
67.  See  also  Presidential 
elections. 

Revivals  in  New  England,  288. 

Rhea  letter  to  General  Jackson, 
261. 

Rhode  Island,  opposes  changes 
in  the  Articles  of  Confedera 
tion,  6;  paper  money  craze, 
18-19;  out  of  the  new  Union, 
44;  ratifies  the  Constitution, 
55;  and  the  Hartford  Con 
vention,  224. 

Right  of  deposit  at  New  Orleans, 
87;  withdrawn,  148. 

Roane,  Spencer,  resists  judg 
ment  in  the  case  of  Martin  v. 
Hunter's  Lessee,  336;  attacks 
the  federal  judiciary,  338-39. 

Robertson,  James,  14,  68. 

Rodgers,  John,  201,  202. 

Rose,  George,  186-87. 

Rule  of  1756,  76-77,  179-80. 

Rush,  Benjamin,  Minister  to 
England,  259;  Canning's  over 
tures  to,  294. 


Russell,  Jonathan,  commis 
sioner  at  Ghent,  227. 

Russia,  offers  to  mediate  in 
1813,  227;  and  the  Holy  Alli 
ance,  291;  and  intervention, 
292;  claims  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  293;  concludes  the 
Treaty  of  1824,  296. 

Rutgers  v.  Waddington,  4. 

Rutledge,  John,  54. 

St.  Clair,  Arthur,  Governor  of 
Northwest  Territory,  14;  de 
feated  by  the  Indians,  70. 

San  Lorenzo,  Treaty  of,  87. 

Santo  Domingo,  negro  republic, 
146;  resists  French  expedi 
tion,  146-47. 

Scioto  Company,  land  grants  to, 
11-12. 

Scott,  Winfield,  220. 

Sedition  Act,  prosecutions  un 
der,  114. 

Seminole  War,  260-62. 

Sevier,  John,  15,  68. 

Shaker  Societies.  302. 

Shays'  Rebellion,  20-22. 

Shipping,  of  the  United  States, 
during  the  European  wars, 
124,  126;  after  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent,  234. 

Simcoe,  J.  G.,  80. 

Slater,  Samuel,  124. 

Slavery,  debated  in  Congress, 
270-71,  277;  in  Missouri,  270; 
extent  in  1789,  271-72;  de 
crease  in  North,  272;  recog 
nized  by  the  Constitution, 
272-73;  congressional  legisla 
tion  on,  273-74;  and  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise,  277. 

Slave  trade,  acts  relating  to, 
273;  extent  of,  273;  forbidden 
by  the  Act  of  1807,  273-74; 
extent  of,  after  1808,  274, 

Smith,  Joseph,  302. 

Smith,  Robert,  140,  198, 

Smith,  William,  105. 


INDEX 


xv 


Somers,  Richard,  145. 

South,  effect  of  cotton  gin  upon, 
250;  extention  of  cotton- 
growing  in,  251-52;  becomes 
the  market  for  Northwest, 
252-53. 

South  American  republics,  rec 
ognition  of,  289-91. 

South  Carolina,  ratifies  the 
Constitution,  41. 

Southwest,  colonization  of,  14- 
15,  249-52;  commerce  of,  15- 
16;  a  frontier  society,  251-52; 
diverges  from  Northwest, 
252. 

Spain,  disputes  the  line  of  1783, 
16-17;  in  the  Southwest,  68, 
70;  concludes  Treaty  of  San 
Lorenzo,  87;  withholds  posts, 
97;  cedes  Louisiana  to  France, 
146;  retains  the  Floridas,  159; 
menaced  by  the  United 
States,  170-72;  threatens  hos 
tilities,  173-74;  in  East  Flor 
ida,  260;  protests  against 
Jackson's  invasion,  262:  cedes 
the  Floridas  to  the  United 
States,  264;  loses  her  Ameri 
can  colonies,  289-90;  invaded 
by  France,  292. 

Specie  payment,  suspension  of, 
239;  resumption  of,  240-41. 

Speculation,  in  Western  lands, 
10-12,  26-27;  in  government 
paper,  58;  in  bank  stock, 
63-64. 

Squatter,  the,  251-52. 

State  banks,  increase  of,  239; 
notes  of,  266. 

Steamboat,  on  Western  waters, 
253-54. 

Story,  Joseph,  and  Marshall, 
333;  appointed  Associate  Jus 
tice,  335;  on  criticism  of  the 
judiciary,  339-40;  opinion  in 
Martin  v.  Hunter's  Lessee, 
355-56. 

Stuart,  Gilbert,  285. 


Supreme    Court.     See   Federal 

judiciary. 
Survey  Bill,  vote  in  Congress 

on,  309. 
Syramcs,  John  C.,  land  grants 

to,  11,  12;  begins  colony,  14. 

Talleyrand-Perigord,  C.  M., 
urges  acquisition  of  Louisiana,, 
98;  and  the  X  Y  Z  affair,  98- 
99;  to  the  American  commis 
sioners,  100;  and  the  retroces 
sion  of  Louisiana,  146;  and 
the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  the 
United  States,  149-50;  on  the 
boundaries  of  the  province, 
159. 

Tallmadge,  James,  270,  271. 

Tariff  Act,  of  1789,  50-51;  of 
1816,  237-38;  of  1824,  310-13; 
of  1828,  328-30. 

Tariff  of  Abominations.  See 
Tariff  Act,  of  1828^ 

Taylor,  John,  on  agriculture  at 
the  South,  126;  on  the 
Louisiana  Treaty,  156;  on 
state  rights,  339. 

Taylor,  John  W.,  271. 

Tecumseh,  205,  218,  219. 

Tennessee,  settlement  of,  14; 
intrigues  in,  68;  admitted  as  a 
State,  92. 

Thames,  battle  of  the,  218. 

Thomas,  Jesse  B.,  275-76. 

Ticknor,  George,  287. 

Tippecanoe,  battle  of,  206. 

Tocqueville,  De,  on  equality  in 
America,  300;  on  the  charac 
ter  of  Western  society,  301. 

Tonnage  dues,  51,  124. 

Tories,  persecution  of,  3—5. 

Toussaint  L'Ouverture,  146. 

Tracy,  Uriah,  on  the  Louisiana 
Treaty,  155-56;  on  a  New 
Fngland  confederacy,  164. 

Trade.   See  Commerce. 

Transportation,  in  1800,  105. 
See  also  National  Road,  Ca- 


XVI 


INDEX 


nals,  Internal  improvements, 
etc. 

Travel,  difficulties  of,  about 
1800,  105-06;  improvement 
after  the  War  of  1812,  255. 

Treasury,  Secretary  of,  bill  to 
establish,  52;  reports  of, 
56-62. 

Treaty-making  power,  debated 
in  House,  90-91. 

Treaty  of  Paris  (1783),  1; 
(1794),  84-88;  of  Greenville 
(1795),  87;  of  San  Lorenzo 
(1795),  87-88;  of  Morfon- 
taine  (1800),  104,  146;  of 
Louisiana  (1803),  150;  with 
Tripoli  (1805),  145;  (1806), 
184;  (1809),  197;  of  Ghent 
(1814),  229-30;  with  Spain 
(1819),  264. 

Trespass  Act  of  New  York,  4. 

Trevett  v.  Weeden,  19. 

Tripolitan  War,  143-45. 

Troup,  George  M.,  325-26. 

Trumbull,  John,  236-37,  286. 

Tudor,  William,  283. 

Turnpikes,  construction  of,  255. 

Unitarianism,  rise  of,  287-88. 
United  States,  frigate,  215. 
United  States  Gazette,  Federalist 

newspaper,  66. 

United  States  v.  Peters,  333-34. 
Universalism,  rise  of,  288. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  243-44, 
316,  323. 

Vans  Murray,  William,  103. 

Vermont,  admitted  as  a  State, 
55 ;  refuses  the  call  for  militia, 
224;  and  the  Hartford  Con 
vention,  224. 

Virginia  and  Kentucky  Resolu 
tions,  110-12. 

Virginia,  commercial  difficulties 
with  Maryland,  27-28;  rati 
fies  the  Constitution,  41;  pro 
tests  against  internal  im 


provements,  319-20;  on  the 
Supreme  Court  (1809),  335; 
protests  against  decisions  of 
federal  courts,  336-37;  pro 
poses  constitutional  amend 
ment,  339. 

War  of  1812,  preparations  for, 
208-09;  motives  for,  208-10; 
vote  for,  210;  political  as 
pects  of,  212-13,  216-17,  223- 
27;  land  operations  of,  213- 
14,  217-18,  220-23;  naval 
operations,  215-16,  218-19, 
221-22;  in  the  Southwest, 
219-20;  end  of,  228;  results 
of,  231-44,  282. 

Washington,  George,  on  the 
prospects  of  the  United 
States,  1 ;  on  Tories,  3;  resigns 
commission,  6;  on  the  West, 
16;  on  Shays'  Rebellion,  23; 
in  the  Federal  Convention, 
29;  on  the  growth  of  industry, 
46-47;  elected  President,  48; 
inauguration,  48-50;  appoint 
ments  of,  54-55;  and  the 
Bank  Bill,  62-63;  levees  of, 
65;  reflected  President,  66- 
67;  proclaims  neutrality,  73; 
sends  Jay  on  mission  to  Eng 
land,  79;  and  the  Whiskey 
Insurrection,  82-83;  censures 
Democratic  Clubs,  83-84; 
and  the  Jay  Treaty,  86-88; 
Farewell  Address,  91-92;  ap 
pointed  head  of  provisional 
army,  102. 

Wasp,  American  sloop-of-war, 
215. 

Watauga  settlement,  14. 

Wayne,  Anthony,  wins  battle  of 
Fallen  Timber,  80-81;  secures 
Treaty  of  Greenville,  87. 

Webster,  Daniel,  on  the  princi 
ple  of  protection,  237;  on  uni 
versal  suffrage,  305;  and  the 
Tariff  of  1828,  330;  influence 


INDEX 


xvn 


at  the  federal  bar,  333;  coun 
sel  for  Dartmouth  College, 
342. 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  214, 
228-29. 

West,  Benjamin,  285. 

West,  the,  social  aspects,  252, 
299-300;  political  aspects,  298, 
303-04;  intellectual  aspects, 
300-01,  302;  religious  as 
pects,  301-02;  education  in, 
302-03. 

Western  lands,  speculation  in.  20. 

West  Florida,  claimed  by  the 
United  States,  151,  158-59; 
revolt  in,  203-04;  annexed  in 
part,  204. 

Whiskey  Insurrection,  the, 
81-83. 


Whitney,  Eli,  127. 

Wilkinson,  James,  in  Kentucky, 
68;  his  relation  to  Burr's  con 
spiracy,  172-75,  177;  in  the 
campaign  of  1813,  218;  occu 
pies  West  Florida,  219. 

Wilson,  James,  in  the  Federal 
Convention,  31 ;  appointed 
Associate  Justice,  54. 

Wirt,  William,  333,  345. 

Wolcott,  Oliver,  89. 

Woolen  manufacturing,  begin 
nings  of,  235;  after  the  War  of 
1812,  235-36. 

X  Y  Z  affair,  98-100. 

Yazoo  land  controversy,  168- 
70,  342. 


14  DAY  USE 

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